A judge last month gave provisional approval to a proposed Apple Store bag check settlement, in which the Cupertino company has agreed to pay a four-figure some to compensate employees in California for unpaid time waiting for off-the-clock searches.
Details of the settlement are now available on Apple’s website …
Background
We recently summarized the eight-year history of the case.
The dispute dates all the way back to 2013, when retail staff complained at having to wait an extra 10-15 minutes after their shifts had ended in order to submit to bag searches and checks of their personal devices to protect against employee theft. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed surprise when he learned of this policy.
An initial class action lawsuit failed, as did a second one in California, judges ruling that staff could choose not to bring bags and personal devices to work. However, the California Supreme Court reversed this, and told Apple that it must pay workers for the time lost. One of the arguments the judge made was that Apple’s marketing described iPhones as an integral part of customer’s lives, and therefore tacitly admitted it was unrealistic for staff to leave theirs at home.
Apple discontinued bag checks in 2015, and earlier this year offered to pay workers $30M (around $1,200 each) to settle the case.
A judge had to approve the settlement, and said that it wasn’t perfect but would be allowed to proceed, with some small modifications.
He demanded lawyers make the process for opting out of the settlement easier for class members. He insisted they drop requirements that class members use “magic words” to opt out. He further stated opts-outs should be accepted by electronic submission and not just mail.
Apple Store bag check settlement details
Apple has now put the settlement documents online.
The Frlekin v. Apple Inc. California class action regarding unpaid wages for time spent in bag and technology checks has settled. Below are links to the notices of settlement. If you have questions regarding the notices or the settlement, you may contact the settlement administrator at www.AppleBagCheckSettlement.com.
The settlement was made under California labor laws, so only applies to employees within the state.
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