A federal judge approved an $11 million settlement October 8 in a class-action lawsuit against Kelly Services Inc. by temporary workers over vacation pay and payment notices, according to a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern division.
Class-action members include current and former temporary workers in Illinois who did not receive vacation pay between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2008, according to the settlement’s final approval order filed with the court.
In addition, the settlement includes temporary workers in non-clerical and non-professional positions between January 1, 2006, and August 27, 2007, who did not receive wage and payment notices as required by the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act.
According to court records, $10 million was allocated to a fund for vacation pay allegations and $1 million was allocated to a fund for payment notice allegations.
Kelly did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.
“There was no admission on our part of any violations of the statute, nor were there any findings of a violation by the judge or the court,” said Jim McIntire, vice president of public affairs at Kelly. “It was a settlement that in our view reflects the very considerable expense of ongoing litigation and we acted to avoid those continuing expenses.”
Named defendants in the class-action suit were Estella Arrez and Erica Alonso, according to court filings.
Arrez worked for Kelly from December 2005 through October 8, 2006, at Caterpillar Inc., according to the complaint in the suit. Alonso worked for Kelly from June 11, 2003, through July 22, 2004, at several sites.
Chicago Public Radio reported the suit involved 96,000 temporary workers and that it was one of the largest wage-and-hour cases in Illinois history.
—Staffing Industry Analysts
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