LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Chinese Daily News must pay $5.19 million to 200
workers who claimed they were forced to work 12-hour days without overtime or
lunch breaks, a judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall on Thursday added penalties and
interest to the $2.5 million that a federal jury last year initially awarded as
compensation for unpaid overtime, meal and rest breaks.
"This ruling is significant in that it tells employers that they cannot take
advantage of immigrant and non-English speaking workers," said a statement from
Cornelia Dai, an attorney for the workers.
All of the $5.19 million will go to the workers, and the judge will set
legal fees later, another attorney for the workers, Randy Renick, said Friday.
"We're confident that this is all going to be reversed on appeal," said
Steve Atkinson, an attorney for the newspaper.
The employees filed a class-action suit against the Monterey Park-based,
Chinese-language paper in 2004, alleging labor law violations.
Atkinson argued that the workers were professionals who were exempt from the
work laws and mainly worked from home.
"These reporters never came to the office ... maybe once a week for a
training session. So they were on their own to take breaks and lunches," he
said.
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