Apple has agreed to pay $29.9 million USD to settle an 8-year-old class-action lawsuit, filed by Apple Store workers in 2013 over lost wages from employee bag checks Apple enforced at its outlets for security — reports Bloomberg.
The settlement was reached after a prolonged, eight-year legal battle between the two parties. On Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs filed for a federal judge to ratify the settlement agreement.
The suit, which was escalated to a class action in 2015, claimed Apple was violating California law by not paying employees for the time it took to conduct bag checks when they left work after their shifts, or during.
Apple argued the security checks were a necessary measure to make sure Apple Store employees were not hiding stolen products in their bags. At one point, Apple’s lawyers said workers brought bag checks upon themselves by bringing bags into work, and that anyone who didn’t like the policy could choose not to carry a bag.
The class action only covered employees at California’s 52 Apple Stores. According to the court filing, the class consists of 14,683 workers, each of whom will get $1,286 USD from the settlement.
