The law firms of Cutter Law and Fairchild & Levine seek recovery of millions of dollars in unpaid wages on behalf of current and former Save Mart employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – October 22, 2024
Cutter Law, a law firm dedicated to protecting consumer rights, and Fairchild & Levine, a law firm focused on the enforcement of California employment law, filed a class action lawsuit against The Save Mart Companies, one of Northern California’s largest grocery store chains, alleging widespread wage theft and unfair labor practices affecting thousands of employees. The plaintiff, Joseph Christiansen, a former store manager, seeks to represent a class of current and former Save Mart employees who were misclassified and denied lawful compensation under California labor laws.
According to the complaint, Save Mart, which operates 187 stores under the Save Mart, Lucky, and FoodMaxx brands, intentionally misclassifies store managers and assistant managers as exempt from overtime laws. This misclassification allows Save Mart to require the employees to work long hours without paying them overtime wages—a classic form of wage theft. The lawsuit accuses Save Mart of multiple violations, including failing to provide minimum and overtime wages, denying meal and rest breaks, and issuing inaccurate wage statements, and claims that he stolen amounts add up to millions of dollars each year.
“We are committed to holding companies like Save Mart accountable when they fail to respect the rights of their employees,” said Wes Griffith, the Head of Consumer Class Action Litigation at Cutter Law. “This lawsuit highlights a troubling pattern of wage theft and unfair labor practices at Save Mart, affecting thousands of hard-working Californians who deserve fair compensation under the law.”
The complaint further alleges that Save Mart has a history of settling wage theft claims while continuing the same unlawful practices. The company is accused of using settlement agreements to avoid correcting labor violations, most notably in a 2020 settlement over unpaid wages for assistant managers.
“Rather than change how it operates its stores, Save Mart has continued its unlawful and exploitative business practices, apparently concluding that it is cheaper to periodically settle litigation than to follow the law. Save Mart needs to be held accountable,” said Mr. Griffith, “and our lawsuit seeks to do exactly that.”
In the complaint, Plaintiff Joseph Christiansen, who worked at Save Mart for more than 20 years, details how he was regularly required to work 50 to 70 hours a week performing non-managerial tasks, such as operating cash registers and stocking shelves, without proper compensation. The lawsuit alleges that Save Mart’s unlawful practices worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Save Mart made strategic decisions to put profits over its employees.
We stand with Joseph Christiansen and the many current and former
employees seeking justice, and we will vigorously pursue their rights to ensure that corporate practices align with California labor laws,” added
Andrew Levine, a founding partner at Fairchild & Levine. “Companies that continue to put profits before people who make them successful need to be held accountable when violating employee rights.”
The class action lawsuit seeks to recover unpaid wages, penalties, and other damages on behalf of all similarly situated employees and aims to compel Save Mart to change its business practices.
The case is currently pending in the Superior Court of California, Stanislaus County. For more information or to inquire about joining the lawsuit, please contact the attorneys representing the plaintiffs at Cutter Law P.C. or Fairchild & Levine LLP.
