Estee Lauder Faces Former Employee’s Class Action Over Alleged Labor Law Violations

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Estee Lauder Inc. and ELC Beauty LLC find themselves as defendants in a proposed class action filed over several alleged California Labor Code violations, including unpaid wages and missed break periods.

Behind the suit is a former non-exempt hourly employee who worked for Estee Lauder from March 2014 to December 2017. According to the case, the plaintiff was not paid for all hours worked, and was “directed, permitted or otherwise encouraged” by the defendants to work off-the-clock during breaks and after the end of her shift without commensurate pay.

As the suit tells it, the plaintiff’s workplace was “chronically” understaffed, which deprived employees of uninterrupted meal and rest periods as they typically had no one to relieve them of their duties. Nevertheless, the defendants, the case says, disciplined employees if they failed to clock out for breaks that they worked through. The suit notes that the woman was also supposedly deprived of premium wages for these missed breaks. Additionally, the plaintiff alleges she worked past the end of her scheduled shift on a regular basis for no pay because employees were “unable to complete all of their duties in the time allotted” due to being short-staffed.

Further still, the case charges that the plaintiff was not reimbursed for business expenses, including for the cost of using her own cell phone for work calls and her own car to pass out flyers and meet with collaborators.

The lawsuit, which was originally filed in December 2018, has been removed from state to federal court in California.