SACRAMENTO –– The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California approved a class action settlement for employees of Danell Custom Harvesting LLC on July 10.
As part of the agreement, the seven workers were awarded $5,000 each, plus $406,000 in attorney fees and costs.
Francisco Rodriguez, Jesus Hernandez Infante, Marco Garcia, Juan Manuel Bravo, Estela Patino, Jose F. Orozco and Antonio Ortiz filed the lawsuit in 2016. The workers alleged the co-owners of Danell Custom Harvesting -- Rance Danell, Eric Danell, David Danell and Justin Danell -- violated federal and state wage laws. They claimed the employers did not pay them overtime.
“The settlement agreement provides [$1.5 million] to resolve all claims of the settlement class for the alleged failure to provide meal and rest breaks and to pay wages, penalties, reimbursement of work related expenses and attorney fees and costs,” the court order stated.
The settlement came after mediation between the parties and the final approval cancelled a propesed July hearing.
Danell Custom Harvesting develops, manufactures and sells harvesting machinery.