- 4 - emotional and physical strains of the job. He left the employment with PayLess in June 1992 and went into real estate. On March 16, 1993, an action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho against PayLess by four of its former employees for themselves and on behalf of other present and former employees of PayLess. The complaint alleged that the purpose of the action was to recover on behalf of the class of employees unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and costs under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1069, currently codified at 29 U.S.C. secs. 201-209 (1994). Petitioner was not one of the plaintiffs instituting the action; however, petitioner qualified for participation as a member of the class of employees for whom the action was filed. Petitioner never elected to be excluded from the class, nor did petitioner ever claim or institute any separate action against PayLess. The class action did not proceed to trial but was settled. PayLess agreed to pay $5 million for the benefit of all qualifying members of the class, including petitioner. As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs in the class action executed a written Settlement Agreement and Release (the Settlement Agreement) effective January 25, 1995, in consideration for payment of the $5 million by PayLess. The Settlement Agreement included a release by the plaintiffs of PayLess that was embodied as section 3 and provided in pertinentPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011