Larry Rulison, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
Albany, N.Y. — Workers at Target’s warehouses in the towns of Wilton and Florida have such long walks from the entrance of the buildings to their work areas each day that they should be paid for the time, a new lawsuit argues.
The complaint, which alleges violations of New York labor laws, was filed Aug. 26 in U.S. District Court in Albany and seeks class action status.
Attorneys with the law firm of Katz Banks Kumin LLP estimate that thousands of workers could be due thousands of dollars in back pay for each year they were employed at the two warehouses dating back to 2019. The two sites employ a combined 2,000 people, the suit states.
“Hourly employees of the warehouses are required to walk long distances — up to approximately half a mile — to and from their assigned departments, where they are required to clock in at the start of each shift and clock out at the end of each shift,” the lawsuit states.
The Wilton warehouse has 1.5 million square feet of space, and the Florida warehouse, located just outside the city of Amsterdam, is 1.8 million square feet. That is roughly the size of Colonie Center and Crossgates Mall, respectively.
“These warehouses are enormous industrial sites,” the lawsuit states. “For each employee who is not paid for walking time, that time can add up to approximately $1,000 to $2,000 per year.”
Starting pay at the two sites is between $20 and $27 per hour, depending on the position and the shift, according to current online job postings. The lawsuit claims that the average worker at the two local Target warehouses is paid between $39,000 and $57,000 per year.
Hugh Baran, one of the attorneys at Katz Banks Kumin who is assigned to the case, said the firm “heard from many workers” at Target’s warehouses in upstate New York.
“Our clients filed this lawsuit for a simple reason: hourly workers in New York should be paid for all their hours worked,” Baran said in a statement to the Times Union.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that workers in Amazon warehouses didn’t have to be paid for time they spent going through security checks after their shifts to check for stolen goods in a case called Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk. But that case centered on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Target lawsuit specifically is targeting New York state labor law.
The lawsuit against Target does claim that Target has done bag checks of workers at times, but that it’s not central to the complaint.
“Should discovery show that plaintiffs and other hourly warehouse employees spent significant time waiting in security lines when entering and/or exiting the warehouse at other times during the relevant time period, plaintiffs may amend this complaint to supplement these allegations accordingly,” a footnote included in the lawsuit states.
The two initial plaintiffs named in the Target case filed in Albany this week are a former worker at the Wilton warehouse, Jeanna Kratzert, and a current worker named Neil Mosher.
Kratzert worked at the facility from April 2018 to November 2024, according to the lawsuit. Mosher has worked at the Wilton warehouse off and on since 2002. Target opened the Wilton facility in Saratoga County in 2000. The Amsterdam warehouse opened in 2008.
Reached by phone on Thursday, Kratzert, who lives in Saratoga Springs, declined to speak about the case.
“I really appreciate you calling, but I can’t comment at this time,” Kratzert told the Times Union. Mosher could not immediately be reached by phone.
The lawsuit states that workers work in 12-hour shifts three days a week or 10-hour shifts four days a week. The suit explains that workers do not clock in on their shifts when they enter the warehouse, but when they get to their work areas, which can be a long trek. And employees are required to arrive early for meetings for which they are not paid, the lawsuit alleges.
“Defendant did not pay plaintiffs or other hourly warehouse employees for this time spent walking from their assigned time clock to the entrance of the warehouse after each shift,” the lawsuit states, “For example, in the pay period ending July 19, 2025, Mr. Mosher was paid for 34.38 hours at his regular pay rate of $28.31. But he was not paid for approximately 20 to 24 minutes of mandatory walking time during that pay period, so he is owed wages for that mandatory walking time at his regular pay rate.”
The issue with unpaid walking time is exacerbated when warehouse workers are required to work overtime during busy back-to-school and holiday periods when they earn 1.5 times their pay, the lawsuit alleges.
“For example, plaintiff Mosher and other similarly situated hourly warehouse employees were required to work an additional 20 hours per week, each week, from approximately June 2024 to January 2025,” the lawsuit states.
Note: This article was updated to include a statement from a lawyer for the firm that filed the lawsuit.
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