Home Depot Must Face Class Claims Over Supervisors’ Breaks

Home Depot USA Inc. must face a class action alleging that its supervisors and specialists missed breaks required by Washington law because they had to follow the company’s customer-first policy, a federal court in Washington said.

Certifying the class action brought by former Home Depot supervisor Chris Carlson, the court said that he and the other 2,478 proposed class members had common claims under Washington’s Industrial Welfare Act, Minimum Wage Act, and Wage Rebate Act.

Under Home Depot’s rules, employees risk being fired for not putting their customers’ needs first, which means they can’t leave a customer to take a ...