SANTA ANA (CNS) - A federal judge in Santa Ana today approved a $6 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving hundreds of workers from an Irvine-based real estate appraisal company who said they were wrongly denied overtime pay.
CoreLogic will pay 524 workers about $7,000 each on average and $2 million in attorneys' fees were approved as well.
The class-action lawsuit, which was filed in December 2017, alleged CoreLogic real estate appraisers failed to receive all overtime owed to them as well as meal and rest periods, attorney Bryan Schwartz said.
The appraisers' salaries are dependent on an “efficiency metric,'' but when they reported overtime or missed meals it made them appear less efficient and that reduced their compensation, Schwartz said.
After U.S. District Judge David O. Carter certified a class action lawsuit nationally, the company filed a motion to compel arbitration, which he granted.
When the company battled the hundreds of arbitration cases it had requested, Carter sanctioned the company, ordering it to pay $86,355.62 in legal fees to Schwartz and co-counsel Nichols Kaster, Schwartz said.
“In such a difficult year, our clients need this cash more than ever,'' Schwartz said. “We are delighted that after hard-fought litigation, relief is on the way soon.''
Said co-counsel Matthew C. Helland: “Employers should think carefully before trying to force class cases into individual arbitrations -- it could backfire.''
Photo: Getty Images