A Wawa superstore could be coming to an area touted as Cherry Hill’s “downtown.” Jim Walsh

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A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Riverside man accuses the Wawa chain of improperly denying overtime pay to some workers. (Photo: Jim Walsh/Staff photographer) Buy Photo

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CAMDEN – Four former Wawa employees have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit contending the firm improperly denied overtime pay to some workers at its convenience stores.

The men, including Riverside resident Anthony Gervasio, contend Wawa’s pay practices for assistant general managers (AGMs) violate federal and state laws in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The lawsuit – the second such action against Wawa in recent months – claims the convenience store operator considers assistant general managers to be exempt from overtime pay, even though their primary duties are “manual in nature.”

It says Wawa fails to budget enough money for lower-level workers who could receive overtime pay to complete all necessary tasks, so assistant general managers typically handle chores like operating cash registers, making hoagies and stocking shelves.

As a result, the plaintiffs say, they regularly worked more than 40 hours per week “without receiving wages … for all hours worked, as well as overtime compensation.”

The wage system also allowed Wawa to avoid giving “additional wages, including overtime,” to lower-level workers who would qualify for the bonus pay, the suit alleges.

Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce declined to comment on the suit, but said the Pennsylvania-based firm is “proud of our long-standing reputation for the way we value and support our associates.”

“We are guided by our core values and always strive to do the right thing for our associates,” Bruce said.

A separate suit, filed in October in federal court in Trenton, contends Wawa does not pay employees for time spent on twice-daily surveys of competitors’ gasoline prices and does not reimburse workers for the use of their private vehicles during the surveys.

Attorneys for Wawa, which operates more than 730 stores in six states, have denied any wrongdoing in a court filing in that case.

The suit on behalf of assistant general managers was filed Thursday in federal court, Camden, by attorney Joseph D. Monaco III of Union. He could not be reached.

It seeks overtime pay and financial damages for at least 100 current and former Wawa employees who worked in the chain’s New Jersey stores within the past two years as assistant general managers or in “comparable positions.”

The proposed class also includes assistant general managers who worked within the past three years at Wawa stores in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The suit says it seeks to represent Wawa employees “in the United States,” but does not address eligibility for workers in Virginia, Delaware and Florida.

It says Gervasio worked for Wawa from September 2006 until April 2016, serving as an assistant general manager at four stores in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He typically worked for 50 to 55 hours per week, but was paid for 40, according to the suit.

It reports similar schedules for a second New Jersey plaintiff, Michael Dinse of Brick, Ocean County, and for Richard Bongiovanni of Pennsylvania and James Cloud of Maryland.

It says their duties did not include “hiring, firing, disciplining or directing the work of other employees, and exercising meaningful independent judgment.”

Both lawsuits note Wawa, with revenues of more than $9 billion in 2015, is ranked 34th on Forbes magazine’s list of largest private companies.

Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; [email protected]

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