San Francisco – September 10, 2015 – Lawyers at Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld and The Liu Law Firm announced that they have filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of three former California store managers of ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (“ULTA”), alleging that ULTA incorrectly classified them as exempt from the overtime requirements of California law.
The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of all current and former store managers who have worked for ULTA in California from September 9, 2011 to the present. A copy of the complaint is available here: Quinby v ULTA Complaint
According to its Form 10‑K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ULTA is the nation’s largest beauty retailer. ULTA sells cosmetics, haircare products, salon styling tools, skincare products, fragrance, and nail care products, and provides in-store salon services at most of its stores. As of August 1, 2015, the Company operated 817 stores in 48 states, including 97 stores in California.
According to the complaint, “Because Defendant allocates insufficient staff hours to each store, while simultaneously requiring [store managers] to perform the full gamut of customer service, sales, stocking, and cleaning tasks, Plaintiffs and Class Members are misclassified as exempt because they are forced to spend the majority of their working time performing the same non-managerial tasks being performed by non-exempt employees, such as Cashiers and Stock Associates. As a result, [store managers] work long hours and often skip their meal and rest breaks, without receiving any overtime compensation or compensation for missed meal and rest breaks.”
“ULTA is a hugely profitable public company that is taking advantage of its store managers by incorrectly classifying them as exempt employees,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Gay Grunfeld of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld.
“ULTA has enjoyed rapid expansion, big profits, and a soaring stock price. It’s unfortunate that this success has been built on ULTA’s failure to comply with the law and refusal to pay proper compensation to the hard-working employees who make its success possible.” said plaintiffs’ co-counsel Jennifer Liu of The Liu Law Firm.
The three named plaintiffs are former ULTA store managers—Jaimie Quinby, Linda Gomes and Eric Fontes. Current and former ULTA store managers who wish to report their experiences or learn more about the lawsuit should visit http://www.ULTAovertimecase.com. The case is Quinby et al. v. ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case 3:15-cv-04099.
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Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, founded in San Francisco in 1990, focuses its practice on complex litigation and handles disputes in federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout California and nationwide. More information at rbgg.com.
The Liu Law Firm, P.C. is a San Francisco-based employee rights law firm representing employees nationwide in areas such as wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, employment contracts, severance negotiations, and wage and hour violations. More information at liulawpc.com.