Target warehouse workers allege overtime law violations

Retail giant Target could face a class-action lawsuit in federal court in New York.

A group of low-level managers at the company’s warehouses are seeking class action status alleging the company misclassified them as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The pending suit alleges that most of the duties that “operations group leaders” perform are not supervisory in nature. The plaintiffs’ attorney in the case said Target “controls very carefully what the group leaders do, such that they are not left with meaningful executive authority that would satisfy exemption under the law.”

Target counters that the leaders hire employees and manage teams of up to 50 people.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s recently announced new overtime rules could affect this lawsuit; the federal judge in the case will review the proposed class action in light of the new overtime rules.

As many as 40 managers could be included in the class.