$1.6 Million California Labor Law Settlement Involving Sears Approved

Los Angeles, CA A California labor law settlement that was previously rejected by a US District Court Judge in California has been revised and approved, marking an end to a legal battle for some 3,000 class members in a California labor lawsuit against Sears.

The plaintiffs claimed that the giant retailer failed to pay minimum wage and overtime to Sears employees whose jobs entailed traveling to client homes and undertaking appliance repair, an affront to the California labor code, or so it was alleged. The amended settlement, approved by US District Judge Cormac J. Carney, is worth $1.6 million.

Lead plaintiff Nikola Lovig filed the lawsuit in April 2011. An employee of Sears for a period of one year prior to filing his California labor lawsuit, Lovig was amongst Sears technicians who traveled to, from and between the homes of customers to undertake repairs to various Sears appliances and products. The employees would use company vans that were tricked out with the various parts and tools required to affect the repairs, as needed.

In his California and labor law action, filed at US District Court for the Central District of California, Lovig accused Sears of failing to pay minimum wage and overtime, withholding payment for paid vacation days after employees quit, and failing to provide adequate meal and rest breaks in violation of the California Labor Code and California Business & Professions Code. Lovig also held Sears’ feet to the fire for its alleged failure to reimburse employees for expenses. He also accused Sears of issuing incomplete wage statements.

Judge Carney initially rejected the settlement, indicating that in his view the release terms were overly broad. However, less than a month after rejecting the initial settlement, Carney granted preliminary approval to an amended settlement, noting that in his view the settlement was fair.

“Having reviewed the negotiation process and substantive terms of the settlement agreement, the court finds no obvious deficiencies or grounds to doubt its fairness,” the order noted. Judge Carney found that the previous settlement agreement had issues pertaining to the release of claims beyond the scope of the allegations of the operative, fourth amended complaint to include claims from other iterations of the original complaint.

The amended terms of the settlement are said to have satisfied the judge’s concerns.

According to the terms of the settlement, mobile services technicians working for Sears from April 8, 2007 forward are to receive about $1.1 million based upon a typical class member’s weeks of employment within the aforementioned window. Lead plaintiff Lovig may receive as much as $10,000 as an incentive award in the California labor employment law settlement.

The California labor lawsuit is Lovig v. Sears Roebuck & Co., Case No. 5:11-cv-00756, in the US District Court for the Central District of California.