A federal judge in Springfield has largely pulled the plug on a class action lawsuit against a Taylorville retail merchandising company, saying they can use arbitration agreements to defeat a class action accusing them of shorting worker pay.
U.S. District Judge Colleen R. Lawless ruled that arbitration clauses embedded within the regular employment contracts signed by a group of potentially dozens of people who worked as display merchandisers for Driveline Retail Merchandising Inc. should defeat their ability to bring their lawsuit in court.
The lawsuit was filed nearly a year earlier in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield. The lawsuit was filed by attorney Josh Sanford, of the Sanford Law Firm PLLC, of Little Rock, Arkansas.
It was filed on behalf of a long list of named plaintiffs, including Kiersten Beck, Christine Lynn Barrett-Bukowski, Bridgette Boyd, Tiffany Bragg, Tricia Brooks, Willie Jean Cashaw, Martha Cleary, Amy Craig, Montana Criss, Kamela Crutchfield, Joshua Cummings, Melissa Cummings, Michelle Dailey, Crystal Darby, Racheal Dunn, Melissa Dutton, Seena Easter, Stephanie Edwards, Patti Evans, Robin Flower, Martha Greenfeld, Anna Grubb Waack, Tara Hall, Jackie Haywood, Saundra Hegler, Kelley Herchenhahn, Rachel Hicks, Marla Hix, Alicia Howard, Jori Hutchinson, Lora Hyde, Kayla James, John Jones, Melissa Joseph, Anita Jubic, Amy Kay Knope, Sara Kern, Jen LaCroix, Tonya Lindsey, Cheyenne Lunceford, Christy Manning, Lara Mast, Marissa Michaelsen, Timothy Michels, Anna Mitchell Yancy, Susan Nottingham, Gwendolyn Nyamoti, Aiesha Offord, Lloyd Payton, Malissa Pirtle, Donald Reifenstahl, Angie Revels, Sherry Roberts, Jennifer Rodgers, Michael Savage, Mandy Scoglietti, Theresa Staten, Nancy Stevens, Ella Strickland, Shyanna Swanson, Dana Taylor, Edna Taylor, Linda Taylor, Kristina Thompson, Kalaya Tillman, Robin Uhrig, Melleta Upson Plotts, Kilee Vaughn, Bina Vaught, Jennifer Volkenant, Katherine Webb, Jermaine Webster, Kayla Nicole Williams, Melissa Williams, Dana Work, and Tara Workman.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are residents of central Illinois, as well as locations throughout the U.S., including in the states of Kansas, Texas, West Virginia, Nebraska, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Alabama, New York, South Dakota, Georgia, South Carolina, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, Pennsylvania, Maine, Arkansas, Ohio and Michigan.
According to the complaint, all of the named plaintiffs worked for Driveline as merchandisers and were employed to travel to different retail stores in their home geographic areas to arrange merchandise for in-store displays on behalf of various Driveline clients.
According to the complaint, they all worked for Driveline since at least 2013, though most worked for the company from 2019-2022.
The collective action sought to expand the action to include others who worked as merchandisers for the company nationwide in the three years preceding the filing of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asserted Driveline's pay fell short of satisfying the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements established by federal and state wage and hour laws.
The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the company to pay unspecified unpaid regular and overtime wages, plus attorney fees and other damages.
In response to the lawsuit, Driveline filed motions pointing to clauses in the merchandisers' standard employment agreement asserting that any disputes over wages must go to arbitration, rather than to court as an individual lawsuit or class action.
Judge Lawless sided largely with Driveline, saying the company had provided evidence that at least 128 potential plaintiffs had signed such arbitration agreements.
The judge ordered those cases dismissed. But the judge said more work is needed to determine if other workers had similarly signed such agreements.
She ordered the defendants to provide Driveline with proof that the plaintiffs actually worked for Driveline and documents disclosing whether they signed the arbitration agreements.
The judge noted the defendants haven't provided such proof for at least 19 plaintiffs, including paystubs showing an employee identification number.
She gave them two weeks to provide such proof.
Driveline is represented by attorneys Kathryn D. Terry, of Phillips Murrah P.C., of Oklahoma City; and Denise Baker-Seal, of Brown & James P.C., of Belleville.