UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
TO: All current and former employees of United Natural Foods, Inc. and/or SuperValu, Inc. (together “Defendants” or “UNFI”) who at any time between November 2017 and February 2020 worked in the State of Washington and performed customer account coordination activities while classified as exempt from overtime laws, including employees with the job titles of Export Account Coordinator, Customer Care Coordinator, Coordinator Operations, Account Coordinator Logistics, Accounts Specialist, and/or Account Executive.
RE: RIGHT TO JOIN LAWSUIT TO RECOVER UNPAID OVERTIME WAGES
The purpose of this notice is to inform you of your right to join a lawsuit filed on behalf of current and former employees of Defendants.
What is this lawsuit about?
Plaintiff Donald Carlson is a former employee of Defendants. He brought this lawsuit under a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Plaintiff claims that until approximately February 2020, Defendants failed to pay proper overtime compensation to certain employees who performed customer account coordination activities, including specifically those with the job titles of Export Account Coordinator, Customer Care Coordinator, Coordinator Operations, Account Coordinator Logistics, Accounts Specialist, and Account Executive. Plaintiff argues that Defendants improperly classified those employees as exempt from overtime and failed to pay them overtime compensation and that the practice violated the law. This lawsuit seeks to recover underpaid and unpaid overtime wages, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees and costs from Defendants.
Defendants deny Plaintiff’s claims. The Court has not yet determined which party is correct or who will win at trial and has taken no position on the merits of Plaintiff’s claims.
Basic Information
| 1. Why did I get this notice? |
| You are receiving this because the Court permitted Plaintiff to send this Notice to you and other current or former employees of Defendants who at any time between November 2017 and February 2020 worked in the State of Washington and performed customer account coordination activities while classified as exempt from overtime laws. If you fit this description, you are eligible to participate in this lawsuit. The purpose of this Notice is to inform you and others of your right to participate, how to join the case, and how your rights may be affected. |
| 2. How do I join? |
| To participate in the lawsuit and be represented by Plaintiff’s attorneys, you must fill out and submit the enclosed Consent to Join FLSA Lawsuit form postmarked no later than November 29, 2021. You may email, fax, or mail the signed consent to:
Berger Montague PC You may also submit a Consent to Join FLSA Lawsuit form online at www.terrellmarshall.com/UNFI-FLSA-Collective-Action/. |
| 3. What happens if I join? |
| If you choose to join this lawsuit and be represented by Plaintiff’s attorneys, you will be bound by any rulings or judgments, whether favorable or unfavorable, made over the course of this lawsuit. Your interests will be represented by the Plaintiff’s attorneys at the law firms of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC in Seattle, Washington and Berger Montague PC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You may also choose to retain your own counsel separate from Plaintiff’s attorneys. Plaintiff’s attorneys have taken this case on a contingency fee basis. This means they will only be paid if there is a monetary recovery through a settlement, judgment, or award in favor of Plaintiff and anyone who chooses to participate in the lawsuit. If there is a recovery, Plaintiff’s attorneys will either receive a part of any money judgment, award, or settlement obtained in your favor or will be separately paid for their fees and costs by Defendants. You will not have to pay anything to Plaintiff’s attorneys out of your own pocket.
If you choose to join this lawsuit, you may be required to provide information about your employment with Defendants, you may be required to sit for a deposition where you would be asked questions, under oath, by Defendants’ lawyer and/or Plaintiff’s lawyer, and you may be required to testify at trial. |
| 4. Can Defendants retaliate against me for joining? |
| The law does not allow employers to retaliate against employees for participating in a lawsuit against them. If you currently work for UNFI and believe the company is retaliating against you, or if someone is threatening to retaliate against you, you have the right to contact an attorney, including Plaintiff’s attorney. You should also follow any internal company policy for reporting such concerns.
5. What if I choose not to join? If you do not wish to participate, you will not be affected by any judgment or award, and you will not be included should any settlement be reached in this case. You may instead choose to bring your own action or do nothing. The FLSA has time limits called statutes of limitations. These limitations stop running when you join a lawsuit. If you do not join this lawsuit or start your own lawsuit, your limitations period will continue to run and eventually your right to bring an action may be time barred. Keep this in mind when making your decision on how to proceed. |
THIS NOTICE AND ITS CONTENT HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON, BUT THE COURT TAKES NO POSITION ON WHETHER YOU SHOULD JOIN THE CASE OR ON MERITS OF THE CASE.