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Law360 (June 28, 2021, 7:56 PM EDT ) Walmart said Friday that because its employees also benefited from mandatory preshift COVID-19 screenings, the retail giant wasn't unjustly enriched in the process, urging an Arizona federal court to throw out that claim in a pair of workers' proposed class action.
According to the motion to dismiss, the current and former retail associates haven't alleged that Walmart obtained a benefit at their expense and that there was no justification for Walmart to retain that benefit without compensating them.
"Plaintiffs cannot establish these elements if the relevant activity benefited both parties," Walmart said. "Such is the case here."
Plaintiffs Tristan Smith and Kathy Arrison lodged their $5 million suit in March, claiming that the Arkansas-based retail behemoth required them to arrive at their shifts 10 to 15 minutes early to undergo mandatory COVID-19 screening but didn't compensate them for all that time.
Consequently, Walmart enjoyed unjust enrichment at the expense of its workers, Smith and Arrison alleged.
But Walmart said in Friday's motion that the workers' complaint acknowledges that health screenings protected them from an outbreak that could have infected them and "hundreds to thousands" of Walmart employees. On top of that, they alleged that the screenings were necessary for the continued operation of their stores — and, as a result, their continued employment.
"By alleging the health screening benefited them, plaintiffs have pled themselves out of a claim for unjust enrichment," Walmart said.
The company didn't address the workers' separate claim that the screening time counts as work time and they should have been paid.
Starting in April 2020, Walmart required every worker — at both its retail stores and its fulfillment centers — to arrive early to their assigned shift to undergo a mandatory physical and medical examination to screen for symptoms of COVID-19, according to the suit.
The screenings involved standing in line with co-workers to get temperature readings and answering questions about health conditions, recent travel and potential exposures to anyone with the virus, Smith and Arrison say. After passing the screening, workers were given masks and gloves. Only then were they allowed to clock in for the day, they allege.
Smith and Arrison estimated that the time spent waiting in line and taking the screening took about 10 to 15 minutes each day.
Meanwhile, a Walmart spokesperson told Law360 in March that its workers had indeed received compensation for the "extra time" they spent being screened for symptoms of the virus.
"All hourly associates have extra COVID screening time systematically added to their daily shifts and paychecks," the spokesperson said at the time. "This is in addition to our manual process for adding extra time if there ever is a reason this additional time is not sufficient."
Smith and Arrison filed an amended complaint earlier this month.
Walmart declined to comment Monday, and counsel for the workers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The workers are represented by Todd C. Werts, Bradford B. Lear and Anthony J. Meyer of Lear Werts LLP.
Walmart is represented by Erin N. Bass of Dentons and Gregory W. Knopp, Jonathan P. Slowik, Laura L. Vaughn and Nathan J. Oleson of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
The case is Kathy Arrison et al. v. Walmart Inc. et al., case number 2:21-cv-00481, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
--Additional reporting by Hannah Albarazi. Editing by Daniel King.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
