Chicago Tribune offers to pay $640,000 to settle OT suit
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com March 1, 2013 3:56PM
The Chicago Tribune is offering to pay $640,000 to settle a lawsuit with a group of reporters who accused it of failing to pay them for overtime work.
The group of 46 journalists, who worked for the Tribune’s suburban TribLocal news service, would each receive between $1,000 and $18,000 under the deal. It has been preliminarily approved by a judge.
Former TribLocal reporter Carolyn Rusin filed the class-action lawsuit last February, alleging that she and other reporters were routinely not paid overtime for working more than 40 hours a week.
Rusin’s attorney, Maureen Salas, described the deal as “an excellent settlement” and said she hopes it will receive final approval at a hearing in June.
A Tribune spokesman declined to comment Friday.
