Over a dozen ex-Scoop employees plan to file suit against the chain in federal court in Manhattan today. The former stock and security workers allege Scoop didn’t pay them overtime. They say the store would promote them to “manager” or “assistant manager” for the sole purpose of replacing their hourly wages with fixed weekly salaries. Meanwhile, they worked 50 to 60 hours a week and did not perform any managerial duties. Labor-law experts say such fake promotions are a common way for employers to get out of overtime pay, which is, by law, time and half. The seventeen ex-employees are demanding $500,000 in lost wages. One spoke to Crain’s:

“We were not really store managers,” Mr. Cisse said. “They just gave us the titles so they could abuse us ... I just want people to know that Scoop is a big company, but what they see is not really the truth.”

When they finish their paperwork today, the ex-workers plan to stage a protest in front of the Scoop store in Soho. On the heels of those bankruptcy rumors, this isn’t shaping up to be a very good year for Scoop. And a protest isn’t going to help them sell those $230 freecity sweatshirts. In fact, just thinking about how gauche those are almost makes us want to demonstrate, too.

The scoop at Scoop: unpaid overtime, workers say [Crain's]