Kevin Blocker
Staff writer

Clarification (5/24/03): When it ruled that Mothers Work Inc. owed workers $105,000 for unpaid overtime, a Spokane County jury also found the company did not deprive store managers of lunch and rest breaks, as the workers' lawsuit claimed. In a separate $50,000 settlement between the company and workers, the firm did not acknowledge denying breaks to workers, as incorrectly stated in this article as a result of a reporting error. Also, share prices for Mother's Work Inc., are currently $21 a share. Because of incorrect information provided to the newspaper, a different price was reported.

A jury has ordered a national maternity outfitter to pay $105,000 in damages to workers, many of them pregnant, ruling the company improperly classified them as supervisors so it wouldn't have to pay overtime.

Under state law, managers paid salaries are not eligible to receive overtime benefits. A manager is considered someone who supervises two or more people and has managerial duties.

In a separate matter settled before the trial started 21/2 weeks ago in Spokane County Superior Court, attorneys for Mothers Work Inc. reached a $50,000 settlement with its hourly employees in Washington for denying 370 workers routine breaks during shifts.

Mothers Work Inc., based in Delaware, manufactures maternity clothing and operates more than 900 retail stores nationwide, including the Motherhood Maternity stores at NorthTown and Spokane Valley malls.

Plaintiffs' attorney Kevin Roberts said the decision could trigger more lawsuits from employees of the company around the country.

"When this lawsuit was filed two years ago, single shares of Mothers Work Inc. sold for $17 a share," Roberts said. "That figure is now $34 a share. One of the reasons their shares are so high is because they've got a reputation for keeping employee wages down."

Craig Swartz, general counsel for Mother's Work Inc., could not be reached for comment. Seattle attorney Leigh Ann Tift, who represented the company at trial, said Tuesday she had not received permission from the company to issue a statement regarding the verdict.

When the suit was first filed, Cheryl Rothrogers, vice president of marketing for Mothers Work at the company's headquarters in Dover, Del., called it baseless.

Rothrogers said Mothers Work cares "very much" about the relationship between the company and its employees and customers.

Originally filed in April 2001, the lawsuit accused the corporation of not allowing its workers, many of whom are expectant mothers, to take lunch breaks or rest breaks. In addition, the complaint said, workers were not paid overtime as required by Washington state law.

Superior Court Judge Robert Austin granted class-action status to the lawsuit in August 2001. Anyone employed at Motherhood Maternity in one of its eight Washington stores since April 26, 1998, was eligible to join the suit.

The suit was initiated by Christine McConnell, a former manager at the NorthTown and Valley Mall stores. When she was pregnant and working at the store, McConnell claimed her supervisors required employees to work more than five consecutive hours without a meal break.

"They asked me to work there after I went in the store looking for clothes," McConnell said Tuesday. "I thought it would be perfect because I was pregnant."

But the job proved difficult.

"Lifting clothes, heavy boxes, climbing ladders ... there were a lot of tasks that had to be finished at the end of the day. And the further along in your pregnancy, the harder the job became," she said.

Supervisors also denied rest periods of 10 minutes or more for each four hours of work, which are mandated by state law, McConnell said in the lawsuit.

"We're pleased with the jury's decision," Roberts said. "It's an important one. This is an outrageous position to take, especially when part of their marketing plan entails hiring young, pregnant women who can display their clothes."

The $105,000 verdict will be split among 44 current and former managers.

By offering employees the title of "store manager," Mother's Work Inc. avoided paying them overtime, Roberts said.

"But what we found was that most of them were frequently working long hours in the stores by themselves and doing nonmanagerial-type duties," Roberts said.

Roberts said most of the women "managers" had an average tenure of less than a year, and were often just a few years out of high school.

"So when they're offered the title of manager, it had a great deal of appeal to them," Roberts said. "This was one of the more ruthless corporations when it comes to dealing with its employees."

The $50,000 settlement Mothers Work Inc. agreed to pay will be split among 370 current and former hourly wage earners who were paid from $7 to $10 an hour, Roberts said.