Former Allstate Employee Files Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Overtime Violations

In a class action lawsuit filed in an Illinois federal court against Allstate, former employee Nadia Ward sues the company for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Ward, who has worked for Allstate for approximately nine months, claims she did not receive full compensation for the overtime hours she worked following the 2021 Kronos ransomware attack. Since the hack, Ward alleges that she and other employees at the company were paid less than the federally required time-and-a-half payment for their overtime hours. According to an article published on Top Class Actions, Ward plans to file suit on behalf of  “nonexempt employees of Allstate who worked in the United States any time after the Kronos hack on Dec. 11, 2021.”

The Kronos Attack and Overtime Lawsuits against Several Companies That Ensued 

In December of 2021, Kronos Inc. settled a lawsuit against affected workers in the state of Illinois, following the hack of the company’s payroll and timekeeping system for $15.3 million. The workforce management company was accused of “collecting workers’ biometric data without their consent and storing that data longer than is legal,” and thus violating Illinois state laws. Ward notes that Allstate has had trouble regulating and maintaining an accurate account of its payroll and timekeeping because it did not institute a new system after the hack. Ward states that Allstate used previous pay periods and estimates of the hours employees had worked to “avoid paying proper wages to non exempt hourly and salaried employees.” Ward claims that the company would duplicate amounts from old paychecks and would disregard overtime hours or compensate its workers inadequately, according to an article published on Law360. She also alleges in the suit that several employees were “not even paid for all their non overtime wages for hours worked in certain workweeks.”

Allstate is not the first company to have dealt with complaints of improperly paying their employees after the Kronos cyber attack. Companies such as Giant and PepsiCo, both affected by the attack, faced class action lawsuits for allegedly failing to accurately compensate their workers for the overtime hours they worked. 

Federal and State Laws on Overtime Regulations 

There are federal and state laws that protect individuals from wage violations in the workplace. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees are entitled to receive overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 per workweek at a “rate not less than one and a half times the regular rate of pay.” Several states, including New York and New Jersey, acknowledge and uphold this law. Both state and federal regulations regarding overtime pay are in place to prohibit employers from refusing to pay their employees their rightfully earned wages. 

Seek Legal Assistance Today 

If your employer has refused to accurately compensate you for your overtime hours, seek assistance from the Working Solutions Law Firm, located in New York City and Livingston, NJ. Contact us today at (646) 430-7930 to schedule a free case evaluation and receive experienced legal counsel.