Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. of the Southern District of Ohio signed the order of dismissal and settlement approval on February 25, 2026, in Fortney v. Walmart, Inc., No. 2:19-cv-4209. The case was filed on September 21, 2019, by named plaintiffs David Fortney and Eli Triplett on behalf of themselves and similarly situated workers.
The core allegation was that Walmart required automotive technicians at its Tire & Auto locations to remain responsive to off-the-clock inquiries during unpaid meal breaks, effectively denying them bona fide meal periods. Because those workers were regularly scheduled for full-time, 40-hour workweeks, plaintiffs argued the interrupted break time should have been recorded and compensated as overtime at one and one-half times their regular pay rates, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The certified collective covered all full-time current and former Walmart Tire & Auto employees — including those holding titles such as Automotive Technician and Tire & Auto Specialist — who were subject to Walmart's meal break policy and employed in the United States between three years before the suit was filed and the date of final judgment. Walmart denied the allegations and denied that any employees were improperly compensated.
The litigation was contested. Before reaching a settlement, the parties completed substantial discovery and litigated, among other things, Walmart's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and its motion to decertify the collective. The parties attended mediation twice with two different mediators before reaching agreement at a March 4, 2025 mediation session.
Applying the standard factors for FLSA settlement approval, the court held the agreement is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute. The court noted that the parties contested whether any unpaid work was compensable, whether the time involved was de minimis, whether Walmart had a good-faith defense precluding liquidated damages, and whether the two- or three-year statute of limitations applied. The court approved distribution of settlement payments to collective members, attorney's fees and expense reimbursements to plaintiffs' counsel, and service award payments to the two representative plaintiffs. Walmart's pending motion to decertify the collective and a related motion to strike were denied as moot.