ARIZONA – Retail giant Walmart has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit involving thousands of employees in Arizona.
According to the settlement approved by a federal court on July 15, Walmart will pay $2.5 million to address claims of not compensating approximately 81,000 hourly workers for time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 checks before their shifts.
The lawsuit, known as Arrison, et al. v. Walmart, alleged that employees spent between 10 and 15 minutes before each shift undergoing temperature checks and answering questions about their health, travel, and potential COVID-19 exposures. Only after being cleared could they clock in and start their workday.
Workers had to wait in long lines for these checks, adding unpaid time to their workday. This led employees to seek compensation under Arizona wage laws, arguing that this time should be considered part of their work hours.
As a result of the settlement, each member of the class action will receive approximately 50% of their potential claim, based on the number of weeks worked at a Walmart store in Arizona from April 20, 2020, to February 28, 2022.
The settlement means that workers will forgo any additional claims against the company related to this issue.
The $2.5 million settlement aims to compensate workers for unpaid wages and unremunerated time spent on these mandatory checks. However, as of the date of this publication, Walmart had not issued an official comment on the settlement or the allegations.
This resolution not only represents a victory for Walmart workers in Arizona but also sends a clear message to other companies about the importance of complying with labor laws and ensuring employee welfare.
