Wal-Mart Will Pay Mass. Workers $40 Million for Overtime Violations

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, has agreed to pay $40 million to thousands of Massachusetts employees who sued their employer claiming they were denied breaks and shorted on overtime pay.

About 87,500 employees who worked at Wal-Mart from August 1995 to 2009 filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in 2001, accusing their employer of violating state laws regarding meal and rest breaks, time card reporting, overtime pay, and other issues. The amount of the agreed settlement is believed to be one of the largest of its kind in Massachusetts history, according to an Associated Press article posted on Law.com.

Several similar lawsuits were filed against Wal-Mart in courts across the country in 2001.  In December 2008, the company agreed to pay up to $640 million to settle 63 state lawsuits over wage-and-hour violations. Also, earlier this year, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims from Massachusetts prosecutors that the store did not give state workers required meal breaks.

Qualified workers will be paid between $400 and $2,500, depending on how long they worked for Wal-Mart, attorneys said. The settlement amount must still be approved by the Middlesex Superior Court where it was filed.

The deal “will not only provide real cash to hard working Wal-Mart employees, but should also provide a mini-stimulus to Massachusetts as the money is distributed and spent by class members around the state,” said lead plaintiffs attorney Carolyn Beasley Burton, according to published reports.

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