Former employees at Apple stores who worked on an hourly basis in New York and Los Angeles have filed a class action suit against the company, claiming they had to submit to off-the-clock searches to prove they hadn’t pilfered products after every shift. That time spent waiting in line for bag checks means they lost about $1,500 per year in wages, alleges the lawsuit.

According to a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court (via GigaOm), employees say they sometimes had to stand in line for 30 minutes every single time they were done working while a manager sifted through their belongings. Since they make hourly wages, that’s money wasted, say the employees.

“Employees .. are required to wait in line and be searched for .. merchandise taken without permission and/or other contraband. […] A large number of Specialists and Managers leave for lunch at the same time and/or end their shift at the same time. This creates lengthy lines and backups.”

One employee from a Los Angeles store and another who used to work at a New York City store teamed up to file the lawsuits, after they both quit this Spring. The suit is trying to loop in thousands of Apple workers across the country who allegedly face the same searches.

The plaintiffs want unspecified amount of damages and claim that Apple’s policy of searching their belongings violates the Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws in New York and California.

Read the entire complaint by clicking here.

Apple workers file lawsuit for lost wages due to bag searches [GigaOm]

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