Their lunch money was taken...

[Just Jack]

not by bullies, by their bosses...

 

Three CNY hospitals prepared to pay $1.5 million each to settle workers' lunch money lawsuits

 

Syracuse, N.Y. - Three Central New York hospitals are prepared to pay $1.5 million each to settle lawsuits accusing them of not paying hourly employees for lunch breaks that were missed or interrupted.

[section122]

I love that out of 1.5 million only 800k will make it to the workers. Lawyers fees and admin costs are 700k, the people that deserve the money and are the reason for the suit in the first place 800k. At the risk of causing this to go to PPP, America is broken.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

I love that out of 1.5 million only 800k will make it to the workers. Lawyers fees and admin costs are 700k, the people that deserve the money and are the reason for the suit in the first place 800k. At the risk of causing this to go to PPP, America is broken.

You are assuming that the total amount of unpaid wages at each hospital was $1.5 million, but that may not be correct. It might have been less. The article linked in the OP says:

 

He and hospital officials said the pending agreement prohibits them from discussing the proposed settlement in detail. Solomon would not say how many workers and former workers received the notices.

 

If the hospitals' violation of the NY labor laws was clear, they may have agreed to settle for MORE than the total amount of underpaid wages. Why would they do that? Because going to trial would have exposed them to potential liability for lawyers' fees, court costs and statutory penalties over and above the actual wages they failed to pay.

 

Need proof?

 

http://www.icemiller.com/publication_detail/id/1790/index.aspx

 

To further complicate matters, many states have wage laws imposing stiff penalties on employers who fail to pay all wages owed to employees. A few states even have separate laws requiring meal periods for employees. For example, California's Labor Code Section 512 requires that each non-exempt employee receive one uninterrupted, duty-free meal period lasting at least 30 minutes for every five hours worked. Unlike federal law, California law requires that employees be free to leave the employer's premises. Employers are assessed a penalty of one hour of pay for every meal period violation. Oregon and Washington state laws also require employers to provide 30 minute meal breaks, whereas New York law requires 60 minute breaks for factory workers and 30 minutes for all others.

 

http://www.robinsonbrog.com/CM/Articles/Wage-Theft-Protection-Act-4-6-11.html

 

Penalties for Wage Payment Violations

Both civil and criminal penalties may be imposed against an employer who fails to pay or underpays employees. An employer who does not pay wages in accordance with the requirements of the Act, or one who differentiates in wages because of the sex of the employee can be required to pay five hundred dollars for each failure. Additionally, an employee or the Commissioner can commence a civil action for the full amount of the underpayment, plus costs, prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees. If the Commissioner brings a civil action or administrative proceeding against the employer, the Commissioner is required to seek the full amount of the underpayment plus assess liquidated damages in an amount no more than one hundred percent of the total amount of wages found to be due. Previously, liquidated damages were capped at twenty-five percent of the amount due.

 

There are plenty of examples of class action suits where lawyers' fees and court costs eat up much of the compensation that individual claimants might otherwise have obtained. But unless you have information not disclosed in the OP's article, you have no idea if this is one of those cases.