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1 Q. What is this lawsuit about?
A. This lawsuit seeks to recover unpaid overtime on behalf of Cintas drivers who worked for Cintas at any time between March 2000 and the present and who were not paid an overtime premium. This case seeks to recover unpaid overtime (time-and-a-half) under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and under applicable state laws for Cintas drivers who worked in certain states with separate overtime laws.
2 Q. Am I eligible to participate in the lawsuit?
A. To be eligible to participate in this case, you must have been a Cintas driver (i.e., a Sales Service Representative, Commission Route Sales Person, Commission Route Sales Representative, Route Driver, etc.) at some time since March 2000. Because the FLSA is an "opt-in" statute, a driver can only pursue an overtime claim under the FLSA in this case by timely filling out and returning a "Consent to Sue" form. Although the deadline to return a “Consent to Sue” form has passed, please contact us if you are interested in still joining the lawsuit or filing a separate claim against Cintas.
3 Q. How do I opt in to this case?
A. Although the deadline to return a “Consent to Sue” form has passed, please contact plaintiffs’ lawyers if you are interested in joining the lawsuit or filing a separate claim against Cintas.
4 Q. What if Cintas finds out that I have joined the lawsuit and retaliates against me?
A. Federal and state laws strictly prohibit retaliation of any kind by an employer against a worker who exercises the right to recover unpaid overtime. If you believe that you or anyone else has been retaliated against by Cintas, threatened by Cintas, or intimidated by Cintas to discourage you from joining this lawsuit, please contact plaintiffs' lawyers immediately at the contact information provided on this website.
5 Q. Q: How much money will I receive if the lawsuit is successful?
A. At this time, there is no way to estimate the amount of any potential recovery for an individual driver but, generally, the lawsuit is seeking overtime pay for any hours worked above 40 hours a week (eight hours per day in California) at an hourly rate equal to 1-1/2 times the driver's hourly rate.
6 Q. Who are my lawyers?
A. If you join this litigation, you will be represented by a team of attorneys from three law firms who have extensive expertise in litigating wage overtime class actions on behalf of employees. The three law firms representing this class are: Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain; Traber & Voorhees; and Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP. If you decide to opt in to this litigation, these firms will be representing you for the limited purpose of the specific overtime claims being litigated in this case, and not for any other purpose. You also have the option of hiring your own attorney at your expense and filing your own lawsuit against Cintas if you do not want to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit.
7 Q. If I join the lawsuit, will I have to pay legal fees?
A. No. There is no cost to any driver who joins this case. The lawyers will be advancing the costs of the litigation, to be reimbursed out of any recovery. This is a contingent fee case that arises under what are called "fee-shifting" statutes. If plaintiffs win, either through court (or arbitrator) order or settlement, their court-determined attorneys' fees will be paid from any monetary recovery you receive and/or from Cintas. If you choose to select your own attorneys, you will of course have to make your own payment arrangements with them.
8 Q. What does it mean that the Court has sent some plaintiffs to arbitration?
A. In a series of rulings, the Court has determined that many plaintiffs must resolve their overtime claims against Cintas in arbitration before the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") instead of in court. Under the federal law governing arbitration, approximately 100 plaintiffs who joined this case before June 9, 2004 must arbitrate their claims in northern California. The Court has declined to decide the issue of whether another approximately 1,800 plaintiffs whose claims are arbitrable must arbitrate in northern California, or elsewhere. Cintas wants to prevent these 1,800 plaintiffs from arbitrating their claims collectively in an efficient and economical manner, and rather to disperse them to separate arbitrations all over the country. We intend to ask the AAA arbitrator to retain jurisdiction over the claims of these 1,800 plaintiffs. Regardless of whether your claim proceeds in court or in arbitration before the AAA arbitrator, your legal rights will be determined based on the same legal principles.
9 Q. I heard that Cintas previously settled an overtime case brought on behalf of some of its California drivers; what was that about, and can those California drivers participate in this case?
A. A group of California drivers who worked for Cintas in California between May 14, 1997 and June 1, 2002 won a $10 million settlement of their state law overtime claims against Cintas. That settlement was approved on February 5, 2003. Any California Driver who was part of that suit may also join this lawsuit to challenge Cintas' failure to pay them overtime for work performed after June 1, 2002; and any California Driver who opted out of that case may join this lawsuit to challenge Cintas' failure to pay overtime for work performed after March 2000.
10 Q. I hear that drivers who drive trucks that weigh over 10,000 pounds or who drive interstate routes for Cintas are not eligible to participate in this lawsuit. Can I participate anyway?
A. Although the Court did not send its Notice of Right to File Consent to Sue Form to Cintas drivers who regularly drove trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds or who regularly drove interstate routes throughout their employment with Cintas, those drivers may still be eligible for overtime pay. Whether you are entitled to recover any back pay under federal law will turn on factual and legal determinations made later in the case, including how long or the extent to which you performed duties that may have been exempt, that is, work for which you are not entitled to overtime compensation. In addition, you may be entitled to recover back pay under the overtime law of the state in which you worked.