Costco employee files $50 million lawsuit

Source: AP

A Costco Wholesale Corp. employee has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming the company violated wage and hour laws in California.
which is based in Issaquah, Wash., said it does not comment on pending litigation.
According to the complaint, filed Friday in California Superior Court in San Diego, Costco required employees to work off the clock, failed to pay overtime and required employees to remain locked inside the store after they'd clocked out at the end of their shift.

Mary Pytelewski, a full-time clerk at Costco's warehouse in San Marcos, Calif. for more than a decade, filed the suit. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.



Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/15/ap6430417.html

very good. The employees liked their jobs, they loved the owner, and it was a great olace to work. WHAT HAPPENED?????

Costco has been excellent in our area.

I have a feeling this is limited to the store she worked in. One bad apple, etc.

:shrug:

are than Walmart or Sam's Club employees.

Anecdotes and one-offs do not equal data.

The manager probably came from Wal-Mart or Sams Club.

as an employer, especially in light of all the bad employers in retail.

They want to distract from their crimes. Sounds huge, but I guarantee that the settlement, if there is one, will be about 2 percent of that amount.

Walmart has been egregious in this area and everyone has settled for pennies on the dollar.

These deals are par for the course (and part of the management philosophy) with Walmart- yet seemingly rare at Costco.

Seeing something rarely does not mean it doesn't happen.

I need more facts.

Which is what our civil justice system ought to afford.

Kinda hard to look inside one's self and argue to the contrary.

Wal-Mart does not. People are going to be skeptical.

And has for 3 yrs... and absolutely loves the ceo who comes to visit them regularly. Great benefits! wth?

he's a great guy (if you think the employees like him-you should see their kids-he's like their Grandpa). Every employee I have asked to date love their job and love their boss.

If the Costco store manager is at fault (I am sure this isn't company policy)-he'll be dealt with and employees will be compensated. If it is a frivolous suit-we'll know soon enough.

I shop exclusively at Costco these days because of it's reputation and the way it treats it's employees. I will follow this suit as it winds through the courts.

Pytelewski said in a statement she complained about the practice but was "rebuffed and ridiculed at every turn."

As fucking well she should have been! What remarkable timing she must have had to have been caught repeatedly by the ONE 15 minute period every day when the doors cannot be opened. EVERYBODY knows when that period is going to happen and plans their exit accordingly. No one is due to clock out at that time - so she would have to clock out and then screw around in the breakroom or bathroom for at least a few minutes before making her way to the door.

I've screwed up a couple of times and got caught up in that short period of time that you have to wait and most people have - but, none of us make a habit of it. We are all grown up enough to know it was our own fault and we just relax and gossip for a few minutes.

Costco IS a good place to work. Apparently some people are never satisfied.

If it were an emergency anyone inside the building could use any emergency door. It's a stupid lawsuit. Nobody is expected to work before or after they clock out. If you dawdle after clocking out on a specific shift you can expect to have to wait until a certain procedure is concluded - for your own safety as well as everyone elses. It doesn't come as a surprise - it happens every night and no ones shift ends at that time.

No one is permitted to leave, via the employee door, for a short period of time (15 minutes or less), every evening - like freakin' clockwork.

Like I tried to say before - every Costco employee knows about this policy/procedure. If you clock out and walk to the door at the end of your shift you can get out the door. If you clock out and screw around re-arranging your locker or remember something you have to pick up from the back and you don't get to the door until this particular procedure has started then you are essentially "stuck" until it's over. You're not "locked in" or "forced to work".

I had it happen to me once when I forgot my phone in my locker and went back to get it. I could have left my phone overnight. I could have gone out the door and then waited the 15 minutes before the door could open again to go back inside and get it, or I could retrieve my phone and just chill out inside with my friends for a few minutes. I chose to stay inside and bullshit with my friends for a few minutes. Most people do.

People who are in a hurry to leave need to be in a hurry at the end of that particular shift - not when they get ready to be in a hurry after doing whatever they were doing after they clocked out.

I predict this suit goes nowhere. And I suspect that the plaintiff has other "issues".

They are like a series of case studies on what NOT to do.

I've dealt with Costco as a vendor for two companies (manufacturer and also shipping), and they are worse to deal with when it comes to price than Wal-mart (where I also was a vendor). Those of you who are doubters, it may be because you like shopping there, I don't know.

earlier post..daughter-in-law going through school is subcontractor for two Costco's for floral stand. She LOVES them.. so if you have a beef..give some specific details?

edited to say... 156 posts and no personal profile?

and don't call someone else's opinion bullshit

i just don't post much.

Dealing with vendors for the best pricing is a whole different aspect of the company than dealing with employees.

Also, please explain HOW they are worse to deal with. I'm very interested. Thanks.

and threw us out of their office for not coming down on the price. Never happened to me in my career before.

who exactly threw you out...and what was the verbiage?

have 8 LLC's.. do business everyday and am not sucked into Costco...just know that this young girl loves it and pays for her college. Was it a bidding process? Doesn't sound like it or you wouldn't be negotiating? Am not judging.. just give the facts or it sounds like you lost a bid which I do often and no hard feelings.

And no, I have no enlightening evidence as to whether this lawsuit is legitimate or not...and you don't know if I am lying or not (i don't like Wal-mart either and also am not a mole for them) Let's just say that they can be more price sensitive because they don't necessarily have the same items on their shelves all the time - they can usually take something at rock-bottom price or leave it.

It was the personal treatment I found exception with. Not at all professional bordering on verbal abuse when they couldn't get their way. This is anecdotal and not a footnooted thesis with resources.

was this a local store or corporate? just curious how the purchasing process is done. And if you don't mind...what products were you representing?

Can that be considered verbal abuse? Maybe it wasn't, my bad.

but was it a local jerk or corporate?

and I can't vouch for every Costco employee on the planets personality or professionalism but what you're describing is very counter to Costco's "culture".

Others aren't. I think all the union warehouses are Teamsters. Costco is a pretty sweet place to work with or without a union and there aren't many places you can say that about.

Oh, and this closing procedure is the same at all warehouses - union or not - and the union hasn't complained about it.

...and if there's no union at that store, the employee should be working to organize one.

It says in the article that she got ridiculed for complaining about being stuck inside. It's hard to imagine her being able to get anyone riled up for her "cause". I'm pro-union and have done some inside organizing in the past but I would have ridiculed her too.

According to the article, the lawyer is TRYING to turn it into a class action lawsuit.

If other employees were affected, even one other, it would have BEEN filed as a class action suit.


My bullshit meter is going off.

Maybe this is an isolated issue? :shrug:

This 15 minute time frame she refers to is standard in all retail establishments: it's when the managers remove the money from the registers and take it back to the place where it's to spend the evening. (Big stores usually have a vault, small stores have a safe of some sort.)

If stores didn't lock up while doing this, criminals would come in, take the money and kill all the employees.

Like it says upthread, if she's dumb enough to not leave before they lock the doors she deserves to stay in there for Fifteen Whole Minutes!

The union investigated and dismissed Pytelewski's claims. She made a failure to fairly represent claim against the Teamster local and lost. Expect this suit to fade away as co-workers dispute all Pytelewski's claims.

Thanks for the additional information. Seems to me if she was looking to "get rich quick" she would have been better off buying a lottery ticket. Or getting herself hired on at some shitty retailer where she could have perhaps found something better to complain about.

never had a bad experience and every employee I have spoken with LOVES their job. They pay well, have good benefits, they close (at least here) on holidays so their employees can have time away. They treat their employees MUCH MUCH better than Walmart/Sams Club. I believe in Costco!