$8.2 Million Settlement Approved in SeaTac Minimum Wage Case

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge has approved an $8.2 million court settlement to resolve the claims of thousands of workers who said they were paid less than $15 per hour after the minimum wage law in SeaTac went into effect.

The Seattle Times reports Judge Robert Lasnik of the U.S. District Court in Seattle approved the class-action settlement involving Menzies Aviation Wednesday.

The plaintiff's lead attorney Duncan Turner says checks to the nearly 2,500 affected workers should be going out by next month.

The lawsuits stemmed from an ordinance SeaTac voters approved that required employers of transportation and hospitality workers to pay a minimum wage of $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2014.

Alaska Airlines and other plaintiffs had filed a lawsuit saying the ordinance shouldn't apply at the airport — an argument the courts rejected.