I sued Albertsons for the time I spent using self-checkout – they call it ‘absurd’ but I felt like an employee

A CUSTOMER has demanded years of wages from a grocery chain after arguing that using self-checkout practically makes you identical to the cashier.

California woman Sophia Sadlowski filed a lawsuit against grocery retailer Albertsons seeking payment for the "uncompensated work performed by their customers" in April 2022.

Albertsons, however, slammed Sadlowski's shocking claims and called the allegations "absurd."

The grocery store noted that customers aren't required to use self-checkout and that choosing to do so does not make them employees.

Sadlowski's suit filed in San Francisco County claims that using self-checkout makes the customer indistinguishable from the employee, allowing the store to save on labor by getting it out of the shopper.

"The cashier work performed by the Albertsons' customers is substantially identical to the cashier work performed by the Albertsons' paid cashiers," the lawsuit states.

The suit argues that Albertsons economically benefits, "in the form of lower payroll costs by utilizing the uncompensated work performed by their customers."

Sadlowski's team demanded back pay for all the customers who used self-checkout in California for the past four years.

Unfortunately for the plaintiff, the judge agreed that the suit was "absurd" and threw out the case against kiosks.

"Albertsons neither compels customers to use the (self-checkout) kiosk nor does it stop customers from doing so," Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow said according to Let's Eat LA.

Karnow decided that this opportunity to choose distinguishes the customer from the employee.

He added that if he ruled in favor of Sadlowski, it could "yield absurd results."

For example, gas station customers could be considered employees for having to pump their own gas and so on.

The ruling would also require Albertsons to collect essential employee info from customers like their social security numbers before they could be paid for their labor at the self-checkout, Karnow said.

Overall, Karnow said the reasons that Sadlowski's team provided were not sound enough proof that scanning and bagging items makes you a proud member of the Albertsons team.

Alberstons Companies, Inc is the second-largest supermarket chain in North America after Kroger.