Israeli Court Approves Class Action Lawsuit Against Rami Levy Supermarkets

A court in Israel has approved a class-action lawsuit against the Rami Levy supermarket chain, alleging a systematic practice of deducting cash shortages from cashiers' wages or forcing them to pay out of pocket. The judge, Rachel Barg-Hirsberg, rejected the company's legal interpretation, ruling that cash register discrepancies do not constitute a debt that can be automatically deducted from salary. The court ordered the chain to pay NIS 33,000 in legal fees and expenses for the approval stage alone. The represented group includes all cashiers who worked for the chain in the past seven years and had money deducted from their wages due to shortages.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Zvi Mandelson, is based on testimonies from former cashiers and employees who described significant pressure to sign consent forms for deductions at the end of their shifts. Testimonies detailed feelings of fear, exhaustion, humiliation, and helplessness, with employees discovering that an entire day's work was lost. Former cashier Baruch Shaltiel described an atmosphere of pressure and tension, where employees felt compelled to sign agreements due to fatigue and the desire to go home, with managers allegedly promising to resolve issues later. He recounted instances where employees cried and felt defrauded, with one cashier reportedly crying before signing under duress.

Another former cashier, Liora Chen, testified about being pressured to sign a form acknowledging a shortage, with threats of reporting her to her supervisor if she refused. She stated that she was forced to sign in most cases due to the late hour and the desire of all employees to leave. Meir Edri claimed that the system prioritized collecting money over investigating discrepancies, and that deductions were sometimes made from his pay without his knowledge or explicit consent.

Rami Levy denied the allegations, asserting that the lawsuit relies on exaggerated rhetoric and lacks evidence. The company stated that deductions are only made after a thorough investigation and with the employee's explicit, free, and written consent. They claimed that in about 30% of shortage cases, employees refuse to sign, and no deductions are made, with the store absorbing the loss. The chain argued that the procedure serves as an educational tool to instill good work habits and increase cashier responsibility, citing provisions in the Wage Protection Law that permit deductions based on written employee commitments.

Judge Barg-Hirsberg was not convinced by the defense's arguments, criticizing Rami Levy's policy of absolute responsibility where employees are automatically held liable for shortages, even when the company's own investigations cannot pinpoint the source of the discrepancy. The court emphasized that daily shortages can stem from various factors, including sophisticated customers, counterfeit bills, improper till changes, or simple human error under pressure. The ruling stated that employers cannot exploit their superior position to shift business risks onto minimum-wage employees, and that signatures obtained under pressure at the end of a workday do not constitute free consent to a legal debt. The case will now proceed to the main trial, where the chain will be required to disclose full deduction data and could face an obligation to repay millions of shekels to cashiers over the years.