Staples Inc. will pay 1,700 current and former assistant store managers in California $38 million to settle overtime pay claims. The suit alleged that the stores misclassified assistant managers as exempt under overtime pay regulations. The company denied the claims and admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

The assistant managers argued they were misclassified as exempt executives even though they spent more than 50 percent of their time performing nonexempt work such as stocking shelves and waiting on customers. They also argued that they had little independent judgment when performing their job duties.