Rock Chevy, a prominent car dealership in Illinois, has just been hit with a class action wage lawsuit. Two former sales representatives at the company have brought a lawsuit on behalf of other similarly situated commissioned workers against the company to try and remedy wage and hour violations. Plaintiffs allege Rock Chevy failed to pay minimum wages, agreed upon wages, unlawfully retained Plaintiffs’ wages, and made unlawful deduction from commissions.
Affected employees include sales representatives that worked at the Rock Chevy Dealership in Grayslake, Illinois from December 20, 2014 until the present. This lawsuit seeks to recover minimum wages, unpaid commissions and unlawful deductions for all sales representatives and their similarly situated co-workers.
The lawsuit alleges that the company knowingly deducted wages from earned commissions and failed to pay its sales representatives the minimum wage. During applicable work weeks, sales representatives for Rock Chevy were paid pursuant to a commission agreement plus a draw and/or salary and ultimately paid less than the minimum wage required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and Illinois Minimum Wage Law (“IMWL”). Unfortunately, Rock Chevy implemented an ongoing scheme whereby it manipulated the gross profits of cars sold thereby reducing its sales representatives’ commissions and increasing its own profits.
In violation of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (“IWPCA”), Rock Chevy inflated what they reported as the price of a vehicle before resale through additional “packs” and other items not agreed to by sales representatives. Moreover, Rock Chevy would also reduce the commissionable gross when a customer traded-in one vehicle for the purchase of another vehicle of a different make and model. Rock Chevy also has a policy and/or practice whereby sales representatives are impermissibly charged back paid commissions. These charge backs, are often made weeks or months after the sales representatives closed a deal, received the commission, and were given a commission breakdown. The reduction of commissions by the imposition of these charge backs was not agreed upon in writing with the sales representatives, in violation of the IWPCA.
Unfortunately, it has become commonplace for car dealerships like Rock Chevy to implement these deceiving pay policies. If you or anyone you know is a commissioned salesperson you may have a claim for owed wages. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP offers a free phone consultation that may better help you understand if you have a claim. Find out if your employer has unlawfully deducted from your wages by calling (212) 300-0375 or visiting our website for more information today.