US Foods Warehouse Workers Lost Wages on Time Spent on Temperature Checks, Class Action Says

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A nearly 20-year US Foods, Inc. employee claims he and other workers have not been properly paid for time spent waiting in line to undergo temperature checks at the defendant’s California facilities.

The defendant, who does business in California as U.S. Foodservice, Inc., has required warehouse workers to wait in line for temperature checks before starting their shifts since around April 21, 2020, the lawsuit says. Per the case, workers have been compensated for one minute at their regular rate for time spent waiting in line.

The plaintiff argues, however, that workers spend up to five minutes on temperature checks due to long lines before having to walk for up to 15 minutes from the temperature check station to their work stations. Only then do the workers begin getting paid for their time, the suit says.

The lawsuit claims that although US Foods has acknowledged that the required temperature checks were a “principal activity” for which employees should be paid, the defendant has nevertheless refused to pay the workers for every minute spent waiting in line and for the time in between temperature checks and the start of their shifts.

Moreover, the unpaid wages should have been compensated at employees’ overtime rates given the amount of time they already worked each week, the case claims.

The suit says that as a result of US Foods’ failure to pay employees for every hour worked and provide proper overtime wages, the company has maintained inaccurate payroll records and issued inaccurate wage statements.

The plaintiff looks to represent all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for US Foods between April 21, 2020 and the date judgment is entered in the case.

Initially filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawsuit was removed to California’s Central District Court on January 8, 2021.

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