Former United Airlines Flight Attendants Secure $53.5M Settlement Win After Wage Dispute Lawsuit
A group of former flight attendants for United Airlines has been awarded preliminary approval for a $53.5 million settlement that stems from claims that the airline did not comply with California Labor Code § 226(a)(2), (a)(8), and (a)(9). Under these labor code sections, California employers are required to issue wage statements to their employees. These wage statements include critical pay and deduction information that allows employees to determine if they are getting paid what they are owed.
These wage statements list the employee's hourly wage, the number of hours they worked, their current physical address, gross and net wages earned, deductions, pay periods, and other wage details.
Additionally, state regulations require employers to provide a wage statement that shows the hourly wage of a particular activity an employer engages in and enables documentation for employees to fill out different hourly wages for different types of work activities. With this wage statement, employees are able to determine if they have been paid properly, as they can clearly and accurately track their hours worked and their pay received.
According to the class action lawsuit, United Airlines provided a wage statement that did not meet the state’s labor laws. According to the plaintiffs, the airline company's wage statement failed to include the employer's physical address and failed to comply with regulations regarding the documentation of hourly wages during a specific pay period and the number of hours worked during each pay period. The lawsuit also accused the airline company of failing to itemize and break down pay and deductions.
In hearing the case, the court determined that the airline company did not violate the regulation regarding an employee's physical address. However, the federal court in the Central District of California ruled in its partial judgment that the issue regarding hourly wage documentation could stand. As a result, United Airlines was found to have violated California’s labor code. After issuing this partial judgment, it was determined that punitive damages would be awarded at a later time, yet it wasn’t until February 7th that a judge announced the preliminary approval of the settlement.
The $53.5 million settlement includes both a civil class action complaint as well as a complaint filed under the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), which allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the government. The PAGA claim was settled for $300,000, or which the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency will take roughly 75%. After deducting attorneys’ fees and costs and various other fees and costs, it is expected that each flight attendant included in the lawsuit will receive $4,903.36 in recovery. As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs listed in the original lawsuit have also agreed to release United Airlines of any responsibility related to the claims and their violation of California’s Labor code section 226. A final approval hearing for the case has been scheduled for June 16th.
