Reno, NV: The Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno and parent company are facing an unpaid wage and hour class action lawsuit filed by employees who allege they were deprived of overtime pay and required to work off the clock.
Class action status has been granted by US District Judge Larry Hicks. The lawsuit represents a class of between 2,000 and 4,800 employees who worked at Grand Sierra in Reno during the past two years.
According to the lawsuit, "GSR wilfully deprived employees of pay for time they spent engaging in work related activities without compensation pre and post shift, such as retrieving keys, radios, cash, completing paperwork, and attending mandatory training sessions and pre-shift meetings."
"This was achieved by either rounding hours so that employees who were technically 'on the clock' did not receive pay for all their recorded hours worked or by having employees perform work without being logged in to the timekeeping system," the lawsuit states.
The class alleges that workers who either refused to do the work or subsequently filed for the overtime were "written up" with a disciplinary note. If those employees received too many citations, they would be terminated.
"Employees were told to simply clock out and then return to work to continue working off the clock," the lawsuit states. "Defendant's unlawful conduct has been widespread, repeated and willful."
Additionally, the lawsuit contends that GSR workers were subjected to "shift jamming" by being forced to return to work sooner than 16 hours from when they last worked, "whether it be their normal job duties or a special event, or mandatory trainings or classes."
According to the lawsuit, the workers were denied compensation they were entitled to an average of one hour for every day they worked in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Nevada Constitution, which the plaintiffs' lawyers estimate could total as much as $50 million in lost wages.
Plaintiffs are represented by Joshua Buck and Leah L. Jones of Thierman Law PC.
