Costco Workers’ $70 Million Wage Suit Proceeds in Federal Court

Costco Wholesale Corp. convinced a federal court it has jurisdiction over a proposed class action of more than 32,000 employees seeking wages for off-the-clock time spent waiting for and undergoing security checks after the stores closed.

Using “more conservative” calculations, Costco could be liable to the employees for roughly $39 million on just waiting-time claims. Applying “more accurate figures” puts that amount closer to $70 million, Judge Morrison C. England Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California said Tuesday.

Those damages alone clearly exceed the $5 million benchmark triggering federal court jurisdiction under the Class ...