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The world’s largest retailer may pay up to $85 million. (Paul Sakuma/ Associated Press/ 2007) |
DETROIT - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, won final approval of a settlement paying as much as $85 million to hourly workers who sued over allegations of unpaid wages.
US District Judge Philip M. Pro in Las Vegas approved the settlement yesterday and awarded one-third of the recovery in fees to the workers’ lawyers, up to about $28 million depending on the claims made. Wal-Mart will pay at least $65 million and as much as $85 million.
The workers claimed that Wal-Mart violated wage-and-hour laws by denying them rest breaks and manipulating time cards to “shave’’ their pay. The accord is part of a global $640 million resolution of wage-and-hour claims reached in December. The settlement approved yesterday covers lawsuits in federal courts brought by workers and combined before him. Wal-Mart also faced lawsuits by workers in multiple state courts, most of which were resolved by the global settlement.
The retailer lost a $78 million jury verdict in Pennsylvania in 2006 over rest breaks and unpaid work and a $172 million verdict in California in 2005 over meal breaks. A Minnesota judge in 2008 ordered the company to pay hourly workers there $6.5 million, finding the company broke labor laws more than 2 million times. The ruling left Wal-Mart vulnerable to a possible $2 billion judgment.
Wal-Mart settled the Minnesota lawsuit for $54 million, before the global resolution.
The company announced in a regulatory filing in September that it settled the California lawsuit, agreeing to pay at least $77 million and as much as $152 million. Wal-Mart has appealed the Pennsylvania judgment.
Pro said Wal-Mart will provide better measurements to assure that hourly employees are paid for all hours worked. This was the “most important’’ part of the settlement, he said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
