A class action lawsuit has just been filed accusing Valero Energy Corporation of cheating thousands of its hourly employees out of millions of dollars in overtime wages over a period of years.
With revenues of $119 billion in 2008 and approximately 22,000 employees, Valero -- the largest oil refiner in North America -- allegedly requires its retail employees who work in its convenience stores to work long overtime hours "off-the-clock" without pay to keep thousands of Valero corner stores open "round-the-clock".
According to the Complaint, the giant energy retailer not only fails to pay its corner store employees for mandatory "off-the-clock" work, but also for "on-call" time, or overtime wages for work in excess of 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. Further, it allegedly fails to provide its workers with mandatory meal periods and rest breaks, and makes unlawful deductions from employees' earned wages.
Brought by three current and former California employees, the class and collection action seeks to represent thousands of similarly underpaid Valero employees throughout the United States.
Specifically, the named Plaintiffs Ms. McCarthy, Ms. McKnight, and Ms. Clinton seek tens of thousands of dollars from Valero for each worker who was underpaid in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); the California Labor Code; and the California Business and Professions Code. The FLSA claims are brought on behalf of all Valero non-exempt Corner Store workers, including store managers and assistant managers, who worked at any Valero retail store or Valero-operated brand name store in the nation.
