Armbruster v. City of Cleveland

What was the case about?
On November 26, 2013, we filed a collective and class action against the City of Cleveland on behalf of Representative Plaintiff Cheryl Armbruster in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

The action alleged that the City of Cleveland violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act by improperly rounding the starting and stopping times of its non-exempt employees.

How did the rounding policy work?

The policy can be obtained here. Rounding Policy. Under the policy, when employees clocked in early within a 12-minute window, or clocked out late within a 12 minute window, their starting and stopping times were rounded against them to their scheduled starting and stopping times. For example:

• At the beginning of the day, if their scheduled shift started at 8:00 a.m., and they clocked in early between 7:48 a.m. and 7:59 a.m., their time was rounded against them to 8:00 a.m.

• At the end of the day, if their scheduled shift ended at 5:00 p.m., and they clocked out late between 5:01 p.m. and 5:12 p.m., their time was rounded against them to 5:00 p.m.

When employees clocked in late or clocked out early, their starting and stopping times were rounded against them in increments of six minutes to the next tenth of an hour. For example:

• At the beginning of the day, if they clocked in late between 8:01 a.m. and 8:06 a.m., their time was rounded against them to 8:06 a.m.

• If they clocked in late between 8:07 a.m. and 8:12 a.m., their time was rounded against them to 8:12 a.m.

• At the end of the day, if their scheduled shift ended at 5:00 p.m., and they clocked out early between 4:54 p.m. and 4:59 p.m., their time was rounded against them to 4:54 p.m.

• If they clocked out early between 4:48 p.m. and 4:53 p.m., their time was rounded against them to 4:48 p.m.

After the case was filed, the City eliminated the policy. Memo Regarding Policy.

What did the settlement provide?
The parties reached a settlement of the case. On June 16, 2014, the Court preliminarily approved the settlement. The Motion for Preliminary Approval can be obtained here. Motion for Preliminary Approval. On August 22, 2014, the parties filed their Motion for Final Approval, which can be obtained here. Motion for Final Approval. On September 26, 2014, the Court granted final approval. The City of Cleveland's Settlement Payment of $2,200,000.00, after deductions approved by the Court, was divided proportionally into Individual Payments for which the Representative Plaintiff and the Class Members were eligible to receive.

Was the settlement fair and reasonable?
The settlement recovered, under Plaintiff's theory of the case, more than full relief for lost overtime during the two-year limitations period. Under Plaintiff's theory, during the two-year limitations period for non-willful violations (January 1, 2012 through March 3, 2014), Representative Plaintiff and the Class Members were denied about $1,773,731.00 in overtime compensation, and during the three-year limitations period for willful violations (January 1, 2011 through March 3, 2014), Representative Plaintiff and the Class Members were denied about $2,606,495.00 in overtime compensation.

Am I part of the class?
The class consists of all current and former employees who were paid according to the City of Cleveland's Time and Attendance/Kronos Guidelines policy and were denied overtime pay due to application of the policy between January 1, 2011 and the present.

Who represents the class?
Plaintiff Cheryl Armbruster and the class are represented by Anthony J. Lazzaro of The Lazzaro Law Firm, LLC and Chris DeVito of Morganstern, MacAdams & DeVito Co., L.P.A. Anthony J. Lazzaro can be reached at 216-696-5000, and Chris DeVito can be reached at 216-687-1212.

How do I get involved?
All class members received a notice that explained how they would receive a payment. The notice was mailed on July 8, 2014. The notice can be obtained here. Notice.

Disclaimer
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