The Cost of Security

As recently stated in the Fourth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, the number of decisions issued in wage and hour class actions in 2007 outstripped decisions in employment discrimination or benefits class actions, demonstrating the increasing popularity of wage and hour class action claims. Aside from the standard misclassification cases and more traditional off-the-clock claims, a recent trend has been claims for unpaid wages and overtime for time spent submitting to and/or waiting for a security check. For example, in January 2007, a group of Wackenhut Services, Inc. security guards filed suit for unpaid wages and overtime for time spent going through security screening required by the electric generating station at which they worked. Last August, a California federal court certified a class action for unpaid wages and overtime against Best Buy for all non-exempt employees who were subject to security checks. In October 2007 and January 2008, two additional class action lawsuits were filed against Best Buy in Pennsylvania and New York state courts, asserting that the employees are owed compensation for, among other things, time spent submitting to security checks.