Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Stand To Be Awarded One-Third of Final Recovery Up to An Estimated $28 Million Ceiling.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, recently won approval of a settlement of over 30 federal lawsuits alleging the retailer did not pay all required wages to workers. The settlement, which was blessed on November 2, 2009 by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro in Las Vegas, calls for a settlement payment of between $65-85 million.
What about the plaintiffs’ attorneys? Not a bad recovery either. As reported in Bloomberg.com, the attorneys will be paid one third of the recovery up to an estimated ceiling of $28 million depending on the claims actually made by class members.
The settled cases were combined in In re Wal-Mart Wage & Hour Employment Practices Litig., MDL 1735 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D. Nev.). For more reaction on this settlement, see Margaret Cronin Fisk’s November 3, 2009 article “Wal-Mart Wins Final Approval of Workers’ Wage Suit Settlement,” available for reading at Bloomberg.com.