KOL Announces Jury Trial Victory Against Staples, Inc.

After a six-week trial in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, an unanimous jury returned a verdict on behalf of 342 “sales managers” represented by Klafter Olsen & Lesser LLP for almost $2.5 million against Staples for misclassifying them as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Federal Labor Standards Act or FSLA and failing to pay them overtime.  KOL trial attorneys Seth Lesser and Fran Rudich led KOL’s team at the trial in this case, one of the few Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification cases that have ever gone to a jury verdict.  The jury also found that Staples’ failure to comply with the FSLA was willful.

The amount of the recovery will double if the Judge authorizes liquidated damages under the FSLA.  The amount awarded by the jury does not include attorneys’ fees and costs which plaintiffs’ counsel intend to also require Staples to pay pursuant to the FSLA.

Post-trial motions and an appeal by Staples are expected. The award cannot be distributed until after all appeals are resolved in favor of plaintiffs, which could take one year or more.

KOL has other class and collective actions proceeding against Staples for failure to pay other “sales managers” as well as “operations managers” overtime due them under the FSLA and similar wage and hour laws that some states have enacted.  KOL is committed to taking these cases to trial, if necessary, to obtain the overtime pay to which it believes they are legally entitled.

If you are a present or former Staples “sales or operations manager”, please click here to let us know so that we can send you more information about these actions, including a Consent Form should you wish to proceed in these cases.