A federal judge has approved a $2.25 million class action settlement in favor of workers who were allegedly instructed by their employer not to include two 15-minute breaks when recording their compensable hours on their daily timesheets and further awarded the plaintiffs’ attorneys one-third of the common fund.
The named plaintiffs, Matthew Purinton, Jeffrey Morin and Jacob Cyr, claim they and certain other employees of Moody’s Co-Worker Owned Inc., a collision repair center with multiple locations throughout Maine, did not have these breaks accounted for under a written employment policy authorizing employees to take two unpaid 15-minute breaks during the day. Part of that policy was reviewed and edited by a human resources firm, according to the approved agreement filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine on Jan. 12 by Judge John A. Woodcock Jr.
