Facts

Plaintiffs Gerald Till, Denny Bilikas, and Craig Taggart were employed by defendant M.L. Stern & Co. LLC as account executives between Nov. 13, 2002 and Dec. 31, 2006. The plaintiff class was certified to include all those similarly situated to the named plaintiffs.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs contended that there were misclassified as exempt employees not entitled to overtime wages. Plaintiffs argued that M.L. Stern failed to provide meal and rest breaks; took illegal paycheck deductions; did not provide proper wage statements; and did not provide accurate compensation.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
M.L. Stern denied all allegations.

Result

The plaintiffs accepted a settlement of $945,960 on behalf of 216 former and one current employee. All other employees who were potential class members previously agreed to release defendant from any potential claims. The named plaintiffs received incentive payments of $15,000.

Other Information

The proposed class action complaint was filed with the San Diego Superior Court on Nov. 13, 2006. Thereafter, M.L. Stern removed the case to the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California, where it was consolidated with a similar action filed Nov. 17, 2006 in Los Angeles Superior Court.