J.Crew and A&F handed lawsuits for withholding employees overtime pay

US fashion retailers J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch have both been served lawsuits by former employees for failing to pay out overtime.

Former J.Crew employee, Andrew Duberry, who worked for the fashion retailer between 2010 and 2012, claims that the company refused to adequately compensate him and 250 other California store employees for overtime work and meal breaks.

Duberry states that J.Crew “engaged in a uniform policy and systematic scheme of wage abuse against their hourly paid or nonexempt employees within the State of California and the policy of denying wages for off-the-clock work and missed meal breaks means that store employees were often not paid minimum wage,” according to the Fashion Law.

The lawsuit filed by Duberry also claims that the fashion retailer failed to keep accurate payroll documentation and provide their staff with detailed pay slips.

Similarly, teen fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch had also been served a lawsuit for allegedly failing to compensate its California-based employees. Samantha Jones, a former Hollister employee who worked for the brand between 2005 and 2014, filed a lawsuit against the apparel company claiming it has breached both the Fair Labor Standards Act and state labor wage laws by refusing employees overtime pay.

Jones states that the fashion label “as a matter of corporate policy, practice and procedure, intentionally, knowingly and systematically failed to compensate plaintiff and the class members for all hours worked (for on-call time), and under compensated them for overtime worked that should have been paid at overtime rates had the on-call time been paid for.”