Barnes and Noble 2013 Annual Report Download - page 62

It alleges violations of California Civil Code section 1747.08
(the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971) due to the
Company’s alleged improper requesting and recording of
zip codes from California customers who used credit cards
as payment. The complaint was re-filed in the Superior
Court for the State of California on December 23, 2011 as
a separate action. The Summons and Complaint have not
been served on the Company for either action. On February
10, 2012, the plaintiff filed a request that the action filed in
December be dismissed with prejudice.
Lina v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., and Barnes & Noble
Booksellers, Inc. et al.
On August 5, 2011, a purported class action complaint was
filed against Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Barnes & Noble
Booksellers, Inc. in the Superior Court for the State of
California making the following allegations against defen-
dants with respect to salaried Store Managers at Barnes
& Noble stores located in the State of California from the
period of August 5, 2007 to present: (1) failure to pay wages
and overtime; (2) failure to pay for missed meal and/or
rest breaks; (3) waiting time penalties; (4) failure to pay
minimum wage; (5) failure to provide reimbursement for
business expenses; and (6) failure to provide itemized wage
statements. The claims are generally derivative of the alle-
gation that these salaried managers were improperly clas-
sified as exempt from California’s wage and hour laws. The
complaint contains no allegations concerning the number
of any such alleged violations or the amount of recovery
sought on behalf of the purported class. The Company was
served with the complaint on August 11, 2011. The parties
are currently engaged in pre-certification discovery. The
state court has set the following certification motion sched-
ule: Lina’s motion for class certification is due August 12,
2013, Barnes & Noble’s opposition is due October 11, 2013,
and plaintiff’s reply is due November 25, 2013. The hearing
date for the certification motion is December 11, 2013. No
trial date has been set.
Jones et al v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., and Barnes & Noble
Booksellers, Inc. et al.
On April 23, 2013, Kenneth Jones (Jones) filed a pur-
ported Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) action
complaint against Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Barnes & Noble
Booksellers, Inc. in the Superior Court for the State of
California making the following allegations against defen-
dants with respect to salaried Store Managers at Barnes &
Noble stores located in the State of California: (1) failure to
pay wages and overtime; (2) failure to pay for missed meal
and/or rest breaks; (3) waiting time penalties; (4) failure to
pay minimum wage; (5) failure to provide reimbursement
for business expenses; and (6) failure to provide itemized
wage statements. The claims are generally derivative of the
allegation that Jones and other “aggrieved employees” were
improperly classified as exempt from California’s wage and
hour laws. The complaint contains no allegations concern-
ing the number of any such alleged violations or the amount
of recovery sought on behalf of the plaintiff or the pur-
ported aggrieved employees. The case was initially assigned
to the Honorable Barbara Scheper. Because the underlying
factual claims in the Jones complaint are almost identical
to the claims in the Lina v. Barnes & Noble action, Barnes
& Noble filed a Notice of Related Case on May 1, 2013. On
May 7, 2013, Judge Michael Johnson (before whom the Lina
action is pending) ordered the Jones action related to the
Lina action and assigned the Jones action to himself. The
Company was served with the complaint on May 16, 2013,
and filed an answer on June 10, 2013.
Trimmer v. Barnes & Noble
On January 25, 2013, Steven Trimmer (Trimmer), a former
Assistant Store Manager (ASM) of the Company, filed
a complaint in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York alleging violations of the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law
(NYLL). Specifically, Trimmer alleges that he and other
similarly situated ASMs were improperly classified as
exempt from overtime and denied overtime wages prior to
July 1, 2010, when the Company reclassified them as non-
exempt. The complaint seeks to certify a collective action
under the FLSA comprised of ASMs throughout the country
employed from January 25, 2010 until July 1, 2010, and a
class action under the NYLL comprised of ASMs employed
in New York from January 25, 2007 until July 1, 2010. The
parties are currently engaged in discovery with respect to
the individual claims asserted by Trimmer and one opt-in
plaintiff only. The Court has stayed all class-wide discovery
at this point. The parties have until August 30, 2013 to
complete this first phase of discovery.
21. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED
TRANSACTIONS
The Company believes that the transactions and agree-
ments discussed below (including renewals of any exist-
ing agreements) between the Company and related third
parties are at least as favorable to the Company as could
have been obtained from unrelated parties at the time they
were entered into. The Audit Committee of the Board of
Directors utilizes procedures in evaluating the terms and
provisions of proposed related party transactions or agree-
60 Barnes & Noble, Inc. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS continued