Lawsuit by Las Vegas market worker alleges wage theft

A former employee has filed a class action lawsuit that claims the Mariana’s supermarket chain has been depriving her and others of overtime wages by forcing them to perform “off-the-clock work.”

Elvira Virdiana Gonzalez-Rodriguez filed the complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Mariana’s Enterprises, Anaya Enterprises, Anaya Decatur and Anaya Cheyenne. She is represented by Cogburn Law Offices.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants are Nevada corporations that conduct business as a supermarket chain with four locations in Las Vegas. No one at Mariana’s could be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

Gonzalez-Rodriguez worked in the juice bar at the chain’s Cheyenne Avenue location until about two weeks ago. Her lawsuit claims the defendants “either manually or automatically manipulated the time clock to ensure she almost always worked exactly 40 hours per week.”

According to the lawsuit, Gonzalez-Rodriguez “and those similarly situated” worked, on average, five hours of overtime a week without compensation.

The lawsuit claims the defendants have intentionally violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Several employees had or have come forward to complain about these off-the-clock practices many times over the years, and defendants failed to remedy the violations,” according to the document.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.