Class-Action Overtime Pay Lawsuit Launched against CarMax

Fresno, CAA sustained ignoring of overtime pay laws by a growing number of employers keeps the courts percolating with unpaid overtime claims, as workers and their representatives fight for their rights under California overtime law. A lawsuit recently launched in Fresno not only claims unpaid overtime for workers in California, but additional workers across the country.

Luchini v. CarMax Inc. was recently launched in US District Court in Fresno. The allegation is that CarMax buyers employed by the firm in both California and the greater United States were denied overtime pay according to California overtime law.

The lawsuit asserts that senior buyers, and buyers-in-training, are employed by the defendant to collect information on used vehicles for entry in its computer systems for the purpose of calculating an accurate appraisal price. CarMax, it is alleged, also employs comprehensive systems and strict policies and practices that must be properly observed and adhered to by the buyers in their employ.

Together with the frequent need to attend automotive auctions—which includes travel time—the overtime pay lawsuit alleges that buyers rack up a number of overtime hours each week, work that plaintiffs allege has not been properly compensated for by the defendant.

In a statement carried by Business Wire (3/21/12), lead plaintiff Mike Luchini had this to say:

"CarMax's great success in the used vehicle sales market rests in part on the hard work and long hours of its dedicated buyers," stated Luchini. "We work through early mornings, meal times, and late evenings for the company. We just ask to be paid for the hours we have worked, according to what the law requires."

Luchini's legal team, which is seeking class-action status, notes that the diligent work performed and long hours worked on the part of some 1,500 CarMax buyers employed nationwide as well as within the state of California is fundamental to the success of CarMax in the marketplace.

The allegation is that CarMax routinely misclassifies its buyers as exempt from overtime pay. Such misclassification serves, it is alleged, to deny affected buyers overtime pay according to California overtime law and similar federal statutes.

The proposed class includes current and former buyers employed by CarMax. The group would include active buyers, senior buyers and buyers-in-training having worked for CarMax anywhere in the US, as well as the state of California, for the past three years.