What is the case about?

On April 24, 2025, Plaintiffs (who worked salary-paid Deli Kitchen Manager, Meat Manager, and Bakery Manager positions for Festival Foods) filed a federal lawsuit as a potential class/collective action in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on behalf of themselves and a potential class and collective of all other salary-paid grocery department managers paid as if ineligible for overtime compensation. The case alleges that Festival Foods violated federal and Wisconsin overtime pay laws by requiring them and all other salary-paid grocery store department managers to work in excess of 40 hours per workweek while denying them and other similarly situated grocery department managers overtime compensation allegedly required by law. Specifically, the case alleges that Festival Foods treats and pays those positions as “exempt” from the applicable overtime laws, despite requiring those grocery department manager positions to perform grocery store sales and customer services as their primary duties in a manner that does not meet the requirements for denying overtime pay; because even job titles having the word “manager” in them, and even those paid by salary, can be owed overtime if the employer cannot carry its burden of proving that the position was “exempt” from overtime pay laws. Plaintiffs believe that they and other salary-paid grocery department managers are entitled to recover unpaid wages including unpaid overtime back pay, an additional amount of liquidated damages equal to the amount of back pay owed, and any other amounts allowed by federal law, in addition to other monetary damages and amounts required by Wisconsin law.

The lawsuit’s allegations, which Plaintiffs would have to prove at a trial, seek recovery on behalf of all department managers who worked for Festival Foods in one of those salary-paid positions at any time within the last three years, dependent on potential court rulings in the future. Defendant Festival Foods filed its Answer, which denied that it is liable for any unpaid overtime to Plaintiffs or others similarly situated.

What is the status of the case?

On August 21, 2026, Plaintiffs and Festival Foods filed a Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Hybrid Rule 23/FLSA Settlement, which can be viewed by clicking HERE. That Motion explains who is a potential settlement participant, and asks the Court to enter an Order granting preliminary approval of the class/collective action settlement for salaried department manager overtime claims.

The Court has not yet ruled on that Motion. If the Court grants preliminary approval, then after that ruling a Settlement Administrator (the parties have retained RG/2 Claims Administration, LLC as Settlement Administrator) would distribute Court-approved settlement notices and claim forms to all eligible potential settlement participants who did not already join the case, which notices would provide pertinent information regarding the settlement and explain a potential settlement participant’s options, rights, and deadlines.

There is nothing that any potential settlement participant needs to do at this time in order to be included in the settlement notice distribution, if the Court grants preliminary approval of the settlement. However, any potential settlement participant may always request and obtain confidential legal advice from this law firm as Plaintiff’s Counsel regarding the case or this settlement, at no charge to them (the settlement, if approved, would pay Plaintiff’s Counsel’s attorney’s fees), and/or provide updated mailing/email address information, by contacting attorney Bethany A. Hilbert of Head Law Firm, LLC at:

Bethany A. Hilbert, bhilbert@headlawfirm.com, (312)690-7765

Can I be fired for joining, participating in a settlement, and/or participating as a witness?

The law prohibits employers, or their agents, from firing, harassing, discriminating, or retaliating against an individual for taking part in a case for overtime back wages.