Taylor Farms, Califonia-based salad and health food producer, has reached a $5.3 million settlement to resolve a state-wide class action suit alleging various state wage and breaks violations. Now, the deal is pending final approval by a federal judge in Sacramento.
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If the deal is approved, the class members will split an approximate $3.05 million with individual payouts based on number of pay periods worked during the relevant period. Class counsel for the suit requested 35% of the total settlement amount for attorneys’ fees, roughly $1.85 million and an additional $250,000 in costs.
The average payout for members is around $745, and the largest is more than $7,000.
The settlement would resolve claims brought against Taylor in 2013 by five employees who worked at a facility in Tracy, California and on behalf of other similarly situated workers.
The employees alleged Taylor Farms committed more than 7 violations of the California Labor Code. These violations range in nature: failing to pay for time spent performing necessary pre and post-shift work duties like “donning and doffing” necessary protective gear, not providing them with adequate rest and meal breaks, and even issuing paychecks in an untimely manner.
The proposed deal would provide a $7,500 service award for each of the five named plaintiffs, $23,000 for claims administration costs and a required penalty of $75,000 under California’s Private Attorneys General Act.
A similar proposal was brought in August of 2019, yet it fell flat. Although strikingly similar, the latest proposal received preliminary approval in November 2020. Since then, no class member has objected to the deal’s terms, and only 20 individuals have opted out, according to the motion submitted Feb. 5 to Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
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