Class Action Lawsuit Filed by Employees Against Longs Drug Stores, Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1999--On Wednesday, a class action suit was filed on behalf of assistant managers, second assistant managers, senior department managers and department managers against Longs Drugs in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.

Longs operates stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, and Hawaii. In the suit, Janice v. Longs Drugstores Corporation, current and former employees charge Longs with: -0-

   1.  Misclassifying as exempt, employees who should have been
       paid overtime because:

       -- They perform primarily non-management functions;
       -- They are docked pay for missing partial days of work.

   2.  Failure to keep accurate records of all employee work time

   3.  Unfair competition and unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent
       business practices

   4.  Violations of ERISA, the federal law protecting employee
       retirement and benefits plans

    This suit comes on the heels of a U.S. Department of Labor
settlement agreement with Longs to pay pharmacists more than
$2 million in backpay for not properly paying overtime and the filing
of a class action suit on behalf of pharmacists with the assistance
of the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). A
tentative settlement has been reached in this suit and awaits court
approval. The details of the settlement, which provides for larger
individual awards than agreed to by the Department of Labor and
Longs, will be made public after court approval.

   The lawsuit seeks from a jury trial:

   -- Compensatory, liquidated, and punitive damages and penalties
   -- Compensation for overtime work that was not calculated or paid
   -- Restitution and disgorgement to the plaintiffs the profits
      acquired by unfair competition
   -- Injunctive relief requiring Longs to pay employees the
      applicable overtime rates for all hours and to keep current
      records of all work time, and to cease unfair competition
   -- To provide attorneys' fees and costs

"Lawsuits such as this are becoming a necessity because too many employers are cheating their employees," stated Sean Harrigan, UFCW Region 8 Director.

"There is no legitimate excuse for companies to pretend that their employees are managers when they are not. They should be paid like all their other hourly employees," he added.

"Unfortunately, many companies today think they can get away with misclassifying their employees to reduce labor costs. However, when they get caught, it can be very costly." He concluded.