Class Action Alleges Six Flags Great Adventure Owes Unpaid Wages for Security Checks, Time Spent Walking Across Park

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Six Flags Great Adventure faces a proposed class action that alleges workers at the Jackson, New Jersey amusement park have been deprived of proper wages for pre- and post-shift time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings. 

The 13-page complaint was filed by a New Jersey woman who claims she and other hourly employees at Six Flags Great Adventure & Safari and Hurricane Harbor were required to undergo security screenings and then walk “long distances” across the 510-acre amusement park to the location of their particular time clocks. 

Likewise, at the end of their shifts, Six Flags required the hourly workers, including ride operators, maintenance techs, performers and food service staff, among other positions, to clock out and then walk from the location of the time clocks back across the amusement park before undergoing another security screening and being allowed to leave, the lawsuit says. 

According to the suit, defendants Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and Six Flags Great Adventure have run afoul of  New Jersey labor laws by failing to pay employees for every hour worked, namely for “significant” time spent walking to and from their work locations and time clocks while on premises.

Per the lawsuit, it generally takes five to 20 minutes for Six Flags workers to walk from a pre-shift security screening at the park’s main entrance to their assigned work location, at which point they can “finally clock in to start getting paid.” Post-shift, the workers spend roughly the same amount of uncompensated time walking from their assigned posts back to the main entrance to undergo another security screening before being permitted to leave Great Adventure, the filing claims. 

These common policies resulted in proposed class members being underpaid, the lawsuit alleges. 

The plaintiff claims that during her employment, she had to undergo a security screening upon entering Six Flags Great Adventure and then walk approximately 500 yards to her work location before being able to clock in to get paid. The plaintiff, who was paid $12 an hour, was likewise required to clock out at the end of her shift and then walk the roughly 500 yards back to the entrance of the park for a post-shift security screening, the suit says. 

“Plaintiff estimates that the uncompensated security screenings and walking time at the beginning of her shift and at the end of her shift combined took approximately 10-40 minutes each day to complete,” the filing claims, alleging the plaintiff did not receive at least the minimum wage for every hour she worked. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all current and former Six Flags employees who were employed as hourly, non-exempt workers at the Great Adventure amusement park at any time from October 26, 2016 through the date of final judgment in the case. 

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