From Denny Walsh:
Global coffee purveyor Starbucks Corp. announces on its Web site it is "proud to be among Fortune's 100 Best Places to Work."
There are at least 6,000 of its employees in California who have reason to disagree with that designation.
They are members of a class who will share in proceeds of up to $3 million Starbucks is forking over to settle a Sacramento lawsuit on behalf of managers, assistant managers and shift supervisors in specialty coffee emporiums throughout the state.
U. S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. approved the settlement Friday.
The suit challenged the multibillion-dollar firm's policy of not reimbursing mileage expenses incurred by the retail-level managers using their own vehicles on company business.
By contrast, Starbucks reimburses executives and other above-the-store employees for business-related mileage expenses.
The settlement proceeds will be used to pay back expenses due to approximately 6,000 people who joined the class action and who worked in one of the three retail manager positions in California between March 12, 2003, and March 19, 2008.
Starbucks has now changed its policy and reimburses mileage expenses to store-level managers in conformance with state labor law.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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