Apple has submitted an offer to pay a $29.9 million settlement to retail employees who were subject to off-the-clock searches of their bags before leaving work, says a Courthouse News report.
Lawyers for the Apple staffers urged the court to approve the $29.9 million settlement, calling it a “significant, non-reversionary settlement reached after nearly eight years of hard-fought litigation.”
The settlement offer is for a class-action lawsuit filed against Apple in 2013. Employees alleged that Apple subjected them to mandatory bag searches that were conducted off the clock, meaning they were uncompensated for their time.
Apple actually won the initial trial, when the court ruled that Apple employees chose to bring personal bags to work, but the employees appealed the case and it was sent to a higher court.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the U.S. District Court that handled the original lawsuit had mistaken in its judgment when it sided with Apple over the case.
Apple requires that all bags, packages, and Apple devices that belong to retail employees be checked by a manager or security before being allowed to leave the store for any reason. Employees are required to clock out before the exit search. It has been estimated that employees spent time waiting and undergoing searches ranging from five to 20 minutes. Busy days could see employees waiting as long as 45 minutes to have their bag checked.
Employees in the class of nearly 12,000 current and former Apple Store staffers in California can receive up to a maximum payment of about $1,200 if the settlement is approved.