Dollar Tree Class Action Lawsuit 2026, Colorado Workers Allege Wage Theft, Unpaid Overtime and Missed Breaks

A former Dollar Tree employee in Weld County, Colorado has filed a proposed class action accusing the discount retailer of not paying hourly workers for all the time they worked. The complaint points to off-the-clock work, unpaid overtime, missed or interrupted meal and rest breaks, and job expenses employees allegedly paid themselves. The plaintiff also asks to represent other Colorado hourly workers and seeks unpaid wages, liquidated damages, penalties, interest and attorneys’ fees.

The case is filed in the District Court for Weld County, Colorado, as Case No. 2026CV31151. The plaintiff is represented by Miri K. Trauner and Jonathan Apsan of Lawyers for Justice P.C.

Short answer: There is no Dollar Tree settlement, no settlement website, no claim form and no deadline. These are unproven allegations. No court has found that Dollar Tree violated the law, and no class has been certified. You do not need to do anything to “join” right now, but if you worked hourly at a Colorado Dollar Tree it is smart to keep your pay and schedule records.

Dollar Tree Colorado Wage Class Action: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Case number	2026CV31151
Court	District Court for Weld County, Colorado (state court)
Defendants	Dollar Tree Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., according to published reporting
Plaintiff	A former hourly Dollar Tree employee at a Weld County store; not named in the reports reviewed
Plaintiff’s attorneys	Miri K. Trauner and Jonathan Apsan, Lawyers for Justice P.C.
Main allegations	Off-the-clock work, unpaid overtime, missed or interrupted meal and rest breaks, unreimbursed job expenses
Laws involved	Colorado Constitution, Colorado Wage Act, Colorado Wage and Hour (minimum wage and overtime) laws, COMPS Order
Proposed class	Current and former hourly or non-exempt Dollar Tree employees in Colorado; reported class period of three years before filing through judgment
Relief requested	Unpaid wages, liquidated damages, penalties, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, declaratory and injunctive relief, jury trial
Class certified	No
Settlement	None
Official settlement website	None exists. There is no settlement.
Claim form and deadline	None exists. Beware of sites claiming otherwise.
Status	Early-stage litigation; no ruling on the merits

Source limitation: The Weld County complaint itself was not reviewed for this article. The allegations below come from published reporting and are described as allegations, not findings.

Why Is Dollar Tree Being Sued in Colorado?

According to published reports of the complaint, the plaintiff says she and her co-workers regularly worked off the clock for Dollar Tree’s benefit and were not paid for all of that time. Because those hours never reached a paycheck, she argues the overtime they should have triggered was never paid either. The reported allegations are:

• Off-the-clock work. Employees allegedly worked before or after recorded shifts without full pay.
• Unpaid overtime. Workers allegedly did not receive overtime when both recorded and unrecorded hours are counted.
• Meal and rest breaks. Meal periods were allegedly late, shortened, missed, interrupted, or taken on duty or on the premises, and rest periods were allegedly late, cut short or interrupted.
• Unreimbursed expenses. Employees allegedly had to cover job-related costs out of pocket, which the plaintiff says pushed their effective pay below the legal wage.

The plaintiff also alleges the conduct was willful, saying Dollar Tree knew it had to pay its workers and had the means to do so. That allegation affects how far back claims can reach (explained below).

None of this means Dollar Tree has been found guilty of wage theft. The plaintiff must prove each claim with evidence.

What does “off-the-clock work” mean?

Off-the-clock work is compensable job work that is not recorded or paid. At a discount retailer, general examples could include opening or closing tasks, paperwork, deliveries or finishing duties after clocking out. These are illustrations of how wage claims work, not findings about this plaintiff.

For example, if an hourly worker is scheduled until 9:00 p.m. but must finish required closing duties until 9:20 p.m. and is paid only until 9:00, the missing 20 minutes could matter. The same principle applies to work before clocking in. The key question is whether the employee actually performed work the employer knew or should have known about, and whether that time was properly paid. Being at the workplace is not automatically paid time.

Who Is Suing Dollar Tree and Who Is the Lawyer?

The plaintiff is described only as a former Dollar Tree employee who worked in Weld County. Her lawyers are Miri K. Trauner and Jonathan Apsan of Lawyers for Justice P.C. The same firm has appeared in other recent wage cases against large retailers. A separate proposed class action in Washington state court, brought for a former Dollar Tree and Family Dollar employee, makes similar claims about breaks, overtime and off-the-clock work. That case is separate and its docket was not verified for this article.

What Does Colorado Law Require on Wages, Overtime and Breaks?

Colorado’s wage rules come from several sources: the Colorado Constitution (Article XVIII, Section 15), the Colorado Wage Act (C.R.S. 8-4-101 et seq.), the Colorado Minimum Wage Act (C.R.S. 8-6-101 et seq.), and the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order, known as the COMPS Order, which the state Department of Labor and Employment reissues each year. The version that applies depends on when the work was done.

Rule	What Colorado generally requires
Minimum wage	$15.16 per hour statewide in 2026; some cities and counties set higher rates
Overtime	1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours a week, 12 hours a day, or 12 consecutive hours, whichever gives the greater pay
Meal period	30 uninterrupted, duty-free minutes for shifts over 5 consecutive hours
On-duty meal	If an uninterrupted meal is impractical, the employee may eat on duty and must be paid for that time
Rest period	A paid 10-minute rest for every 4 hours worked or major fraction
Missed rest break	Treated as unpaid working time; extra pay is owed when a required rest period is not authorized and permitted
Wage claim deadline	Generally two years, or three years if the violation was willful (C.R.S. 8-4-122)

Overtime and why unrecorded time matters

Because Colorado counts daily and consecutive hours as well as weekly hours, a worker can earn overtime without passing 40 hours in a week. A 13-hour day, for instance, can trigger overtime for the excess hour. Employers generally may not average hours across weeks to avoid overtime.

Unrecorded work affects both regular pay and overtime. If a worker’s recorded time is 38 hours but they actually worked five more compensable hours, all 43 hours may need to be counted and an overtime premium may be due. That is an illustration, not a damages estimate for this case.

Meal and rest breaks

Colorado does not have a California-style “premium hour” for a missed break. Instead, a failure to authorize and permit a required rest period is treated as unpaid time, with additional pay owed. A meal period that is deducted from pay must be genuinely duty-free. An employee who must keep working through lunch may be entitled to pay for that time. The plaintiff argues that missing a required 10-minute rest break effectively extends the shift without pay.

Unreimbursed expenses

Not every expense an employee pays is unlawful. The analysis looks at what the employer required, who benefited, whether pay was effectively reduced below the minimum wage, and whether Colorado’s wage-deduction rules (such as C.R.S. 8-4-105) apply. No court has ordered Dollar Tree to reimburse anyone.

Other Laws That May Matter

Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. The FLSA sets the federal minimum wage and requires overtime of 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours a week (29 U.S.C. § 207). It covers work an employer “suffers or permits” (29 U.S.C. § 203(g)). Workers can sue as a group through a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), which requires employees to opt in, unlike a class action. The FLSA limitation period is two years, or three if willful (29 U.S.C. § 255). Colorado’s overtime rules are broader than federal law in some ways, which is why the daily and consecutive-hour triggers matter. This lawsuit is described as relying on Colorado law.

Colorado Wage Act penalties and fees. Under C.R.S. 8-4-109 and 8-4-110, an employer that fails to pay earned wages after a written demand or claim may face statutory penalties, and a prevailing employee may recover attorneys’ fees. Penalty amounts increase where nonpayment is willful. These remedies have conditions and are not automatic, so readers should check the current statute text.

Anti-retaliation protection. C.R.S. 8-4-120 protects employees who file or participate in wage claims. Employees do not have to fear that asking about unpaid wages is itself a violation.

Class action rules. In Colorado state court, a class is governed by Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The court must find that the class is large enough, shares common questions, has typical claims and has adequate representatives.

Removal to federal court. Employers often try to move large class actions to federal court. Under the Class Action Fairness Act (28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)), a federal court can hear certain class actions where the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million and other requirements are met. Dollar Tree could attempt this, but no removal has been verified for this case.

Who Could Be Part of the Dollar Tree Class?

The plaintiff reportedly wants to represent all current and former hourly or non-exempt Dollar Tree employees who worked in Colorado, with a class period that runs from three years before the complaint was filed through final judgment. That is only a proposal. The judge has not decided whether a class can be certified, and until then the named plaintiff is the only party in the case.

The three-year reach lines up with the willfulness allegation. Colorado wage claims generally carry a two-year limit, extended to three if the violation was willful. If the plaintiff cannot prove willfulness, the potential class period could shrink.

• Current employees: Working at Dollar Tree alone does not make you a class member.
• Former employees: Leaving the company does not by itself end wage claims, and a future class may include former workers.
• Hourly or non-exempt workers: Job classification and actual duties decide which rules apply.
• Colorado stores: This is a Colorado case under Colorado law. Workers in other states should not assume they are included.
• Workers who never missed a break: Membership depends on the final class definition and the claims certified.

There is no court-approved list of people entitled to payment.

How Much Money Could Dollar Tree Employees Receive?

No settlement or payment estimate exists, and the complaint as reported gives no total dollar figure. The plaintiff requests unpaid wages and overtime, liquidated damages where available, statutory penalties, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and declaratory and injunctive relief. These are requests, not awards.

What any worker might recover would depend on the number of compensable hours, their pay rate, any overtime premium, missed rest period pay, any recoverable expenses, the number of workers in the class and the outcome of certification. Someone with 15 unpaid minutes per shift would have a very different claim from someone with several unpaid hours a week. There is no basis to promise any amount per employee or per missed break.

What Defenses Could Dollar Tree Raise?

The company’s response has not been verified. In wage class actions, employers commonly argue:

• Time was recorded and paid. Records show employees were paid for all time worked.
• No knowledge. The employer did not know and had no reason to know of unrecorded work.
• Policies were lawful. Written policies required breaks and prohibited off-the-clock work.
• Individual differences. Store, manager and job differences defeat class treatment.
• Not willful. Any violation was not willful, which would limit claims to two years.
• Federal jurisdiction or arbitration. The case belongs in federal court, or individual workers agreed to arbitrate.

These are typical issues, not a statement that Dollar Tree has raised each one.

What Happens Next in the Dollar Tree Lawsuit?

Nothing has been scheduled that could be verified. A wage-and-hour class action usually moves through these steps, though timing varies:

Stage	What it means
Response to the complaint	Dollar Tree answers, moves to dismiss, or tries to move the case to federal court
Early motions	The court decides which claims move forward
Discovery	Both sides exchange time records, pay data, policies and witness information
Class certification	The court decides whether the case can proceed for all Colorado hourly workers
Resolution	Dismissal, settlement or trial

Certification is often the biggest fight in wage cases. If the case settles or a class is certified, notice would normally go out through a court-approved process, and we will update this article.

What Should Current and Former Dollar Tree Employees Do Now?

There is no claim form, deadline or sign-up. If you worked hourly at a Colorado Dollar Tree, you can take practical steps to protect yourself:

• Keep pay stubs and time records: hours paid, clock-in and clock-out times, schedules and overtime.
• Write down off-the-clock tasks: dates, approximate time and duties. Specific notes help more than general memory.
• Note break problems: when meals or rests were missed, shortened or interrupted, and whether you were paid.
• Save expense receipts and messages showing costs you were required to cover.
• Save texts and messages with managers about schedules, tasks and hours.
• Do not assume you are already in a class. Class membership depends on the court’s rulings.
• Talk to an employment attorney. Individual wage claims have deadlines, so do not assume waiting for a class action preserves every claim. Many Colorado employment lawyers handle wage cases on contingency. You can also review the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s wage claim resources.

Be cautious of any website or message claiming to offer an immediate Dollar Tree wage settlement or asking you to pay to join.

How Does This Compare With Other Colorado Wage Lawsuits?

Colorado has seen other wage-and-hour suits involving alleged unpaid time, overtime, breaks and expenses. Each involves different employers, allegations, case numbers and procedural histories, so they should not be confused. The existence of similar suits does not show that Dollar Tree broke the law.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Dollar Tree class action lawsuit in Colorado? 

Yes. A proposed class action, Case No. 2026CV31151, is pending in the District Court for Weld County, Colorado, according to published reporting.

What is the Dollar Tree lawsuit about?

 The plaintiff alleges Dollar Tree did not pay hourly workers for all compensable time and did not follow Colorado wage and hour rules, including overtime, breaks and expense reimbursement.

Is there a Dollar Tree class action settlement I can claim money from? 

No. There is no settlement, claim form, official settlement website or payout.

What is the case number? 

Case No. 2026CV31151, District Court for Weld County, Colorado.

Who represents the plaintiff? 

Miri K. Trauner and Jonathan Apsan of Lawyers for Justice P.C.

Who could be in the class?

 If certified as proposed, current and former hourly or non-exempt Dollar Tree employees who worked in Colorado during the class period, reported as three years before filing through final judgment.

How much is the Dollar Tree wage theft settlement?

 No amount exists. The plaintiff seeks unpaid wages, liquidated damages, penalties, interest and fees, but nothing has been awarded.

Does Dollar Tree have to pay overtime after 40 hours in Colorado?

 Colorado requires time-and-a-half after 40 hours a week, 12 hours a day or 12 consecutive hours, whichever is greater, for covered non-exempt workers, subject to exemptions.

Does Colorado require paid rest breaks?

 Yes. Employers must authorize and permit a paid 10-minute rest for every four hours worked, plus a 30-minute meal period for shifts over five hours.

What if I worked during my lunch break? 

Work during an unpaid break may be compensable time, and Colorado has specific on-duty meal rules. The result depends on the facts.

Can former employees be affected? 

Possibly. Former employees can pursue wage claims, and a future class may include them, but the exact class period is not verified.

Does the lawsuit cover Dollar Tree workers outside Colorado?

 No. It is a Colorado case under Colorado law.

Has a judge decided Dollar Tree broke the law? 

No. Dollar Tree has not been found liable. These are allegations only.

What does “putative class action” mean? 

A class has not yet been certified, so only the named plaintiff is a party until the court decides.

When will the case be resolved? 

No reliable date exists. The timeline depends on motions, discovery, certification and any settlement talks.

Related Reading

• Target Colorado Unpaid Wages Lawsuit, Were You Affected? Case No. 2026CV32601
• PetSmart Colorado Wage Lawsuit, Were You Affected? No. 2026CV32558
• $14M Intermountain Health Overtime & Wage Settlement, Are You Eligible to Claim?

Sources and Verification Notes

1. Law360, “Dollar Tree Accused Of Shorting Colo. Workers” (October 2, 2026). https://www.law360.com/classaction/articles/2532889/dollar-tree-accused-of-shorting-colo-workers
2. Top Class Actions, “Colorado Dollar Tree class action lawsuit alleges wage theft, unpaid overtime” (October 20, 2026). https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/colorado-dollar-tree-class-action-lawsuit-alleges-wage-theft-unpaid-overtime/
3. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, COMPS Order and labor rules. https://cdle.colorado.gov/dlss/labor-laws-rules-resources/labor-rules-proposed-and-adopted
4. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Labor statutes (Colorado Wage Act and related laws). https://cdle.colorado.gov/dlss/labor-laws-rules-resources/labor-statutes
5. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Labor Standards and Statistics (minimum wage and wage claims). https://cdle.colorado.gov/dlss
6. Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 15; C.R.S. 8-4-101 et seq. (Colorado Wage Act, including 8-4-105, 8-4-109, 8-4-110, 8-4-120, 8-4-122); C.R.S. 8-6-101 et seq. (Colorado Minimum Wage Act); Colo. R. Civ. P. 23.
7. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 203, 207, 216(b), 255; Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d).
8. ClaimDepot, “Dollar Tree class action alleges Washington workers denied breaks and overtime pay” (for the separate Washington case).

Editorial note: This article describes allegations in a proposed class action, not established wrongdoing or a finding of liability. Before making more specific claims, confirm the plaintiff’s name, the class definition and period, the causes of action, the relief requested and the latest docket status against the original complaint in Case No. 2026CV31151. Statute penalty amounts and exemptions change, so check current text. This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and the author is a legal content researcher, not a practicing attorney.