Express Employment Professionals and its franchisees have been named in several notable employment lawsuits, including a $10 million California wage-and-hour class action settled in 2020, a 2024 Department of Justice settlement over immigration-related hiring discrimination, and a 2011 EEOC national origin discrimination case. Each involved different franchisees, and outcomes ranged from small civil penalties to a multimillion-dollar class fund.
The $10 Million California Wage Class Action
The largest publicly reported case against the Express network is Stoddart v. Express Services, Inc. et al. (Case No. 2:12-cv-01054-KJM-CKD), filed in 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The named plaintiff, forklift driver Michael H. Stoddart, had been hired by franchisee Phillips & Associates Inc. to work at a Western Wines warehouse.1Law360. Forklift Driver’s Revised $10M Wage Deal Wins Over Judge
The complaint alleged that Express Services and Phillips systematically violated California law by failing to provide off-duty meal periods, paying overtime at incorrect rates, issuing inaccurate wage statements, not paying meal period premiums, and withholding final wages owed when workers left their jobs. It also cited the California Unfair Business Practices Act and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).2Top Class Actions. Express Services Inc. Agrees to $10M Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement
Plaintiffs presented handwritten time sheets suggesting class members had been shorted roughly $25.3 million in unprovided meal breaks and about $631,000 in unpaid overtime. Trial exposure was estimated at up to $15.2 million in wage-statement damages and as much as $51 million in waiting-time penalties.3Top Class Actions. Judge Approves $10M Settlement in Forklift Driver’s Unpaid Wages Lawsuit
Who Was Covered and What They Got
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller approved the $10 million settlement in October 2020. The class covered roughly 162,993 workers assigned between March 2008 and December 2017.3Top Class Actions. Judge Approves $10M Settlement in Forklift Driver’s Unpaid Wages Lawsuit
After deductions — attorney fees up to $2.5 million, $70,000 in legal expenses, $365,000 in administration costs, a $10,000 award to the lead plaintiff, and a $50,000 penalty paid to California — the net fund was approximately $7 million. Individual payouts were estimated to range from $140 to $1,411. About $5.25 million went to general class members, roughly $1.75 million to a wage-statement subclass, and $12,500 was distributed under the PAGA component. Western Wines, the end client, was released from liability and paid nothing. The case closed by early 2021.2Top Class Actions. Express Services Inc. Agrees to $10M Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement
2024 DOJ Immigration Discrimination Settlement
In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with Key Fortune Inc., which operates as Express Employment Professionals in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section found the franchisee had violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.4U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Secures Agreement With Staffing Company to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim
According to the DOJ, the franchisee refused to keep honoring a worker’s valid Employment Authorization Document that still had two months of validity left, and then refused to place her on assignment until she produced a document showing future work permission. Federal law bars employers from rejecting valid work-authorization documents or demanding specific ones based on citizenship or immigration status.
Key Fortune agreed to pay a $2,200 civil penalty to the United States and $1,748.45 in back pay plus interest to the worker. It also agreed to train staff on anti-discrimination requirements, review its employment policies, and submit to ongoing DOJ monitoring.5Miller Mayer LLP. DOJ Reaches Agreement With Staffing Company to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim
EEOC National Origin Case
In 2011, the EEOC sued Express Services Inc., franchisee AJK Enterprises LLC (operating as Express Employment Professionals), and industrial subcontractor Proformance Group in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. The case centered on Rosmery Diaz-Caraballo, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Temporary Staffing Firm and Client Company Pay $42,500 to Settle EEOC National Origin Lawsuit
In October 2008, Diaz-Caraballo was assigned to a Proformance project at a U.S. nuclear facility that required U.S. citizenship. She presented a valid U.S. passport but was removed from the assignment after she could not produce a U.S. birth certificate. The EEOC argued that a passport is legally sufficient proof of citizenship and that demanding a birth certificate amounted to national origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The defendants settled for $42,500 and agreed to distribute anti-discrimination policies, provide Title VII training to managers and staff, post an employee notice about the settlement, and report any national origin complaints to the EEOC for two years.
Why the Franchise Structure Matters
Express Employment Professionals operates through independently owned franchise offices, with the corporate parent Express Services Inc. sitting above them. The lawsuits above involved specific franchisees — Phillips & Associates in California, AJK Enterprises in South Carolina, and Key Fortune Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga — alongside the corporate entity, which plaintiffs named as a co-defendant when they alleged systemic policies. A suit against one office does not necessarily reflect practices across the roughly 850-office network, but when the corporate parent is named, the case reaches beyond the local franchisee.