The union representing workers at Nordstrom Inc. filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday, accusing the clothing retailer of widespread violations of wage and hour laws. The suit was the second to be filed against the upscale clothier in as many days. On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court suit was filed here by three Nordstrom shareholders who alleged they and other stockholders had suffered financial losses because company officials failed to disclose labor problems at the chain. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Locals 1001 and 367 and five current and former Nordstrom employees filed their suit in King County Superior Court. The suit includes in its class approximately 50,000 current and former Nordstrom workers in Washington, Oregon, California, Virginia, Utah and Alaska. The two locals represent about 1,500 Nordstrom workers in the Seattle area. Nationally, Nordstrom has about 60 stores and employs about 30,000. On Feb. 15, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries ruled Nordstrom had violated state laws by failing to pay some employees for time worked outside normal working hours. The state, acting on a complaint filed by the UFCW, found that workers had not been properly compensated for such things as attending meetings, delivering merchandise to other stores and customers, doing inventory work or writing thank-you notes to customers. Nordstrom said Monday it had made a $15 million provision for expected back pay claims by employees and adopted a procedure to handle the claims. The charge against fourth-quarter earnings was cited by the company as one reason why profits fell 34 percent in the period ending Jan. 31. Joe Peterson, Local 1001 president in Seattle, said at the time that the $15 million was far too little and threatened to sue if Nordstrom officials failed to negotiate a back-pay settlement with the union. Union officials have said claims could exceed $200 million in California alone. Nordstrom said claims forms had been sent to sales clerks in states other than Washington. In Washington state, those forms must be reviewed by the state's labor office and by the two union locals. Labor and Industries spokeswoman Karen Jones said Wednesday that the review had not yet taken place, and James Webster, attorney for Local 1001, said, ``They have not come to us to discuss that plan as they said they would in the papers.'' Webster said the union had ``hoped for a settlement from the outset,'' and was still willing to meet with company officials. The union lawsuit repeats the allegations made in the state complaint and alleges other violations of Washington and California labor laws, including that Washington employees were required to buy clothes from Nordstrom to wear at work. In a news release, Nordstrom co-chairman John Nordstrom said the company regretted the lawsuit, saying that once it was filed, ``local court rules place restrictions on our ability to communicate directly with our employees about their claims. This could slow down and perhaps bring to a halt the resolution process.'' Nordstrom said the company will continue trying to compensate for back claims, including seeking court approval to do so. The suit asks the court to order Nordstrom to keep proper employment records and award damages equal to twice the amount of wages unpaid, other damages to be determined at trial, and attorneys' fees. The union has said claims in Washington state may total $30 million to $40 million and run as high as $200 million in California. It had no estimate on likely claims in other states. To date, the union has received about 520 claims from workers worth about $2.5 million.
