Court Grants Approval of $29.5 Million Settlement by Lowes Home Improvement Centers

September 22, 2009

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge today gave final approval to a class action settlement involving Lowes Home Improvement which calls for a maximum payment of $29.5 million. Two former Lowes employees alleged that they, and thousands of other hourly Lowes workers were required to work "off the clock" before and after their normal shifts, for which they were not paid. The action was litigated by Stanley Saltzman, Louis Marlin, Mark Bradley and Christina Humphrey of Marlin & Saltzman, and by R. Rex Parris and Robert Parris of the R. Rex Parris Law Firm. Lowes denied all of the claims raised in the lawsuit.

The case was originally filed in October of 2001. It was litigated for over 7 years, and raised legal issues that were twice resolved by the California Court of Appeal. In one decision, the Court of Appeal confirmed the right of the plaintiffs in a proposed class action to have contact with potential class members in order to obtain information that would assist in the prosecution of the action. That 2003 published decision, Parris vs. Superior Court (Lowes HIW) 104 Cal.App.4th 285, became important precedent in California. The second decision by the Court of Appeal came after the trial court had denied the plaintiffs' motion to certify the case as a class action. Not only did the Court of Appeal reverse the decision by the trial court but, in an unusual move, rather than ordering the lower court to reconsider the issue, actually ordered that the case be granted class certification status.

As the case was preparing for trial, the parties were able to reach a settlement. Today, the final step of the class action settlement approval process took place, with the trial court granting full approval to the settlement on behalf of thousands of class members. It is anticipated that settlement proceeds will be sent to claimants by the end of this year.

SOURCE Marlin & Saltzman, LLP