Ecolab Inc. has agreed to pay a $29 million settlement in a federal court class-action suit alleging it denied overtime pay to 400 California pest exterminators.
But a federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday delayed final approval of the settlement pending a determination of how much the named plaintiffs in the suit would receive.
Details of the settlement were reported by the Law360 website operated by information services company LexisNexis.
St. Paul-based Ecolab said it disagreed with the court's earlier finding that it violated California wage laws, but decided to settle the case "rather than continue with uncertain litigation." Ecolab is best known for its sanitizing and pest elimination products for hospitals, hotels, restaurants, schools, car washes and laundry services.
The suit, filed in California state court in October 2011 and moved to federal court a month later, alleged that Ecolab violated state labor and unfair competition laws by making pest exterminators work 12-hour days without keeping track of overtime hours.
Ecolab maintained that, under a law preventing truck drivers hauling hazardous materials from driving too many hours, it could exempt the exterminators from overtime pay because they handled hazardous materials.
The $29 million settlement would include about $8.8 million for attorneys, $750,000 for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and the rest for 400 pest exterminators who were participants in the suit, the Law360 website said.
Those eligible were California pest exterminators for Ecolab from Oct. 7, 2008, until the preliminary approval of the settlement. As part of the settlement, Ecolab must reclassify the pest exterminators as nonexempt employees so that they can qualify for overtime pay.
Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553
