Adero Law suffers setback in $70m landmark OTR class action over alleged underpayment
Employees chasing OTR for millions of dollars in alleged underpayments have suffered a major setback in their landmark case.
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Lawyers fronting a $70m class action against OTR have suffered a major setback, backing down from a key claim in their case against the retail giant.
Adero Law, which brought the action against OTR in May last year, has applied to the Federal Court to remove one of five employee groups included in its allegations of widespread underpayment at the service station chain.
A Federal Court order issued on Monday explains the firm’s reasons for seeking to discontinue the claims of certain trainees, after previously arguing they had unfairly been paid less than award rates.
In a document sent to affected staff, the court explains how inconsistent evidence provided by former OTR trainees had forced Adero to remove their claims from the wider class action.
“In the preparation of the applicants’ statements of evidence, it became apparent that there was not sufficient commonality to support the Group 4 (trainee) claims,” the document says.
“Because the evidence of the applicants’ and Group 4 members’ experiences in respect of their traineeships varied, the applicants formed a view that the Group 4 claims could not be run as a class action because the facts relating to the Group 4 members were not common to the group; and the cost of running each Group 4 member’s claim individually would be greater than any compensation they might recover.”
According to the document, former trainees including console operators, driveway attendants and food attendants had put forward differing records about whether they’d received training while working at OTR and the type and timing of training delivered.
A Federal Court hearing has been set for November 29 to determine whether Adero’s application to discontinue the trainees’ claims is approved.
However if it is, it will not affect the underpayment claims of the four other groups in Adero’s case against OTR.
They include former employees who say they performed unpaid work prior to and after rostered shifts, had meal breaks wrongly deducted from their wages, were not paid proper overtime rates and were unfairly forced to pay for uniforms and police checks.
The landmark case accuses Shahin Enterprises – the employing entity for the OTR group – of underpaying potentially more than 8000 current and former employees.
Adero Law is seeking back-payment of the alleged underpayments plus interest, and has also asked the court to impose pecuniary penalties, with those penalties to be paid directly to claimants.
Mediation has been set down to occur before February next year.
OTR, formerly On The Run, employs more than 3000 people in SA and operates close to 200 outlets across the country.
Adero is progressing several class actions against major Australian employers, including South Australian supermarket chains Romeo’s Retail Group and Drakes Supermarkets.
OTR declined to comment. Adero Law has not returned calls.
Originally published as Adero Law suffers setback in $70m landmark OTR class action over alleged underpayment
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