SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury in San Francisco has found Wal-Mart failed to pay hundreds of truck drivers in California the minimum wage and has awarded the drivers $54 million in damages.
The seven jurors returned their verdict Wednesday in a lawsuit that accused the retail giant of failing to properly pay the drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks and for layovers.
Wal-Mart argued that the drivers are paid for activities that include those tasks and that they’re not working during layovers.
Attorneys for the more than 800 drivers were seeking $72 million in damages, the bulk of it for layovers. They said during trial that additional damages and penalties could push the total that Wal-Mart owed to more than $150 million.
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