Workers for a chemical and beauty product manufacturer have asked a California federal judge to grant final approval to a $2.2 million settlement with their employer, which would resolve claims that the company violated wage and hour laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Of the 6,800 class members, all U.S.-based employees of Henkel Corp., lodged their request with U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar on Thursday.
If approved, the settlement would wrap up 2019 litigation claiming Henkel employees worked through lunch, didn't take breaks and weren't paid for off-the-clock work, due to company practices, and claiming the company performed background checks on employees that violated the FCRA.
Attorneys for the class claim that just 12 Henkel employees have opted out of the settlement. Aside from that, none of the class members have taken issue with the deal, the attorneys said.
"Out of 6,838 class members, not a single class member objected to the settlement to date," the attorneys wrote in a 27-page brief supporting their bid for final approval. "This overwhelmingly positive reaction by the class strongly supports final approval of the settlement."
Two groups of workers would receive money from the settlement, according to the brief: all recent California-based Henkel employees, and the U.S.-based Henkel employees on whom the company performed a background check without giving a copy of the report to them.
The workers obtained class certification in Judge Tigar's November order granting preliminary approval of the settlement. The workers initially asked for preliminary approval of the settlement in July 2020, but Judge Tigar denied it in February, pointing out a few issues that needed to be addressed before he could OK the deal.
Henkel is a German multinational company that manufactures goods including cosmetics, skin care products, laundry and dishwashing detergent, according to its website.