Delta Overtime Pay Lawsuit Settles for $3.5 Million

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An overtime pay lawsuit lodged against Delta Airlines has ended in a settlement.

Some 3,300 previous and current Delta employees may be affected by the $3.5 million overtime pay settlement. The lawsuit was filed amid claims that the airline improperly calculated overtime payments to non-exempt Delta employees.

This group of workers made additional claims including that the airline failed to furnish appropriate and accurate wage statements, did not pay wages in a timely manner, failed to pay all wages due to employees who quit or were let go and failed to keep required records on the books. The named plaintiff in the Delta overtime pay lawsuit is Howard Fan. He says the parties reached the settlement during mediation in mid-September.

Mediation of overtime pay claims is usually a required step during the litigation process. It gives both sides the opportunity to evaluate the relative risks and benefits of proceeding with a lawsuit.

According to Fan, the settlement significantly benefits class members and eliminates the risk, delay, and costs associated with further litigation. Delta’s payout would cover attorney fees, court costs, and class member payments in addition to a $10,000 incentive award to Fan as the lead plaintiff, and a $100,000 payment to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The memorandum submitted to the court in support of the settlement states that each class member would be entitled to approximately $650.

In the lawsuit, filed by Fan in March 2019, he alleged that while working as a customer service agent for Delta in Los Angeles, the airline violated overtime pay and other protections for non-exempt positions in California.

Fan is currently looking to certify a settlement class for all non-exempt California employees with the exception of pilots and flight attendants who were working at any time beginning July 1, 2017, through the approval date for the preliminary settlement.

The lawsuit argued that Delta’s policies and practices failed to take into account shared rewards bonuses, also known as shift differential payments, in addition to other types of employee compensation. This led to ongoing underpayments for overtime hours that were logged by the employee, according to the lawsuit.

California labor laws are some of the most rigid in the nation. laws on the books with regard to overtime pay and breaks.

Nonexempt employees are eligible to receive overtime rates when they work more than eight hours in one workday or more than 40 hours in a given workweek.

It is the employer’s responsibility to properly classify employees and track the number of hours worked to ensure that the employees are properly compensated for overtime.

If you or someone you know has been subjected to inadequate overtime pay, you could be eligible to pursue a lawsuit against the responsible parties. Top Class Actions can help you.

The Delta Overtime Pay Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-04599 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.[/vc_column_text]

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