*UPDATE* The Settlement received final approval from the Court on May 10, 2022. To view the Final Order and Judgment Granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Final Approval, click here.
What Is this Case About?
The Plaintiffs, Silverio Nevarez and Efren Correa, sued Costco on March 25, 2019 in Los Angeles Superior Court (Case no. 19STCV10017) (the “Lawsuit”),
seeking damages, restitution, penalties, interests, costs, attorneys’ fees, and other relief for unpaid exit delays experienced by nonexempt closing-shift California
warehouse employees at various times from March 25, 2015 through April 12, 2021. They asserted the following causes of action, all alleging that Costco detained employees
after they had clocked out during their closing shifts: (1) failure to pay overtime wages (Cal. Lab. Code § 1194), (2) failure to provide adequate wage statements (Cal. Lab. Code § 226),
(3) failure to pay earned wages upon termination (Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201, 202, 203), (4) failure to pay minimum wage (Cal. Lab. Code §§ 1197), (5) failure to timely pay wages (Cal. Lab.
Code § 204), and (6) unfair business practices (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.). This part of the case is called “the Class Action,” and the affected employees are the Class Members,
who will receive a settlement payment unless they exclude themselves from (or “opt out” of) the class as described below.
The case also seeks civil penalties under the California Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) on behalf of all nonexempt California warehouse employees working at
any time during the period January 19, 2018 through April 12, 2021, for alleged violations of California Labor Code sections 201-204, 226, 226.3, 226.7, 510, 512, 1197, 1197.1,
1198, and the California Wage Order. This part of the case is known as “the PAGA Action,” and the affected employees (called the PAGA Group members), will receive a payment from
this portion of the settlement regardless of whether they opt out of participating in the Class Action.
Am I a Class Member? Am I a PAGA Group member?
You are a Class Member if you—at any time during the period March 25, 2015, through April 12, 2021—worked a closing shift as a nonexempt (that is, hourly-paid)
warehouse employee for Costco in California. As such, you will receive a payment from this settlement unless you opt out of the class in the manner described below.
For purposes of the settlement, a “closing shift” is defined as a shift where you clocked out after the warehouse’s posted closing time.
You are a PAGA Group member if you—at any time during the period January 19, 2018, through April 12, 2021—worked as a nonexempt warehouse employee for Costco in California.
As such, you will receive a payment for the PAGA portion of the settlement regardless of whether you opt out of the class.
What Are My Options?
Do Nothing: If you do nothing, you will receive a settlement payment and you will be bound by the release of class action claims stated in this Notice and Settlement Agreement.
Opt Out: If you “opt out” or ask to be excluded in the manner described below, then you will remove yourself from the Class Action. If the Court grants final approval of the Class Action Settlement, then you will not receive any payment, except for your share of the Private Attorneys General Act award. This option will retain your right to sue Costco on your own behalf.
Object: If you object to any aspect of the proposed settlement, you can write the Settlement Administrator. If you want to object, then you must not opt out.
For more information on the procedures for opting out or objecting, please read the Long Form Notice by clicking
here.