Following approval by a federal judge, a wage and hour class action settlement in California will compensate thousands of employees of Universal City Studios for wages and other compensation allegedly withheld.
U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez granted final approval to the settlement in September 2016.
The settlement will require defendant Universal City Studios to pay $1.8 million into a settlement fund to be distributed to eligible Class Members.
A portion of the fund will cover attorneys’ fees for counsel for the plaintiff Class.
Over 3,600 current and former Universal employees will participate in the wage and hour class action settlement in California, with only 13 employees expressly opting out of it.
Class Members include service employees like restaurant employees and parking attendants who worked for Universal between August 2008 and September 2015.
Each Class Member can expect a payment calculated based on what pay periods they worked. The average payment is estimated at about $300, with higher payments expected to reach over $3,500. Named plaintiffs Uriel Luna, Carrie Garten, Shaun Garten and Gregoria Ruiz will each receive an incentive award of $10,000.
Class Members do not need to submit a claim to receive payment. Any unused payment checks will be forwarded to the Unclaimed Wages Fund maintained by the California Department of Industrial Relations.
Four-Year Litigation Ends in Wage and Hour Class Action Settlement in California
This wage and hour class action settlement in California puts an end to over four years’ worth of litigation. Lead plaintiff Uriel Luna filed the claim in August 2012, alleging various violations of California employment law.
Luna claimed Universal had “knowingly and willingly” put in place payroll policies and procedures that resulted in workers getting shorted on both compensation and break time.
He claimed Universal shorted Class Members on wages by failing to satisfy minimum wage requirements, failing to pay the higher rate required for overtime hours, failing to give them rest or meal breaks, and allowing employees to work outside of recorded clock-in time.
The Universal class action lawsuit also claimed the company failed to maintain proper records of hours worked and compensation paid. Employees who quit or were discharged were allegedly not compensated according to legal requirements.
Universal also neglected to provide employees with accurate wage and hour statements, according to the plaintiff.
Luna said he himself worked for Universal as a dishwasher at one of the restaurants in a Universal theme park and at other restaurants in Universal’s CityWalk area between November 2006 and September 2010.
He sued on behalf of a plaintiff Class consisting of about four years’ worth of current and former Universal employees.
The employee rights class action lawsuit originally named as defendants Universal’s related companies Comcast Corp., NBC Universal Media LLC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment LLP. Judge Gutierrez dismissed the claims against those defendants in August 2013.
The Universal City Studios Employee Class Action Lawsuit is Luna v. Universal City Studios Productions LLP, et al., Case No. 2:12-cv-09286, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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