Numerous Wage and Hour Violations Alleged in Lawsuit Against Los Olivos Hand Car Wash

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Suspected violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Arizona’s Wage and Health Families Act are at the center of a proposed collective action filed by four plaintiffs against the company that operated Phoenix’s Los Olivos Hand Car Wash – Coletta Spurling, Inc. – and its owner. The plaintiffs claim as many as 75 current and former employees are owed unpaid minimum and overtime wages dating back to January 1, 2007.

Though their hiring dates vary, each plaintiff worked for the car wash for a number of years until it closed its doors on December 30, 2017. Each man claims he worked roughly 60 hours per week for most of his employment without proper wages. In January 2017, when Arizona’s Proposition 206 went into effect, the lawsuit says, the car wash’s hours changed, reducing the plaintiffs’ hours to around 50 per week. Prior to January of last year, the case continues, the defendants unlawfully failed to inquire about or document the tips employees earned each pay period, an alleged FLSA violation: 

“Without inquiring about or tracking [the plaintiffs’] tips, [the defendants] could not determine whether [the plaintiffs] and others similarly situated were paid at least the minimum wage each pay period. [The defendants] are unable to show that [the plaintiffs] and others similarly situated received at least the minimum wage, when wages and tips are combined, for each hour worked.”

The complaint further alleges the defendants’ employees often switched from one punch card to another in the middle of a workday. The plaintiffs claim that when this occurred, a workers’ hours from earlier in the day were not recorded, leading employees to simply not be paid for all hours worked in some instances. Further, the lawsuit claims employees were usually instructed to clock out as they approached 40 hours for a given workweek and to track the remainder on a second punch card. The hours from the first punch card were paid via check, the plaintiff says, and the hours from the second were paid in cash at only their regular hourly rate.