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FINAL UPDATE...
The Shroll Litigation Administrator is
now the only one with information on the
dispersing settlement monies to affected employees. They
sent letters in late Spring indicating where they are in the
process. Please watch your mailbox for more information
from them as it becomes available.
WPEA does not have any
information regarding dispersing of monies or the
timeline.
October
15, 2008
Shroll
Litigation Update
Good news! The Settlement Administrator is
on schedule to distribute the checks by October 15, 2008!
It is expected that checks will be mailed out to over 14,400
eligible class members. The total settlement amount to be
distributed is $17,421,968. This total amount includes
hundreds of thousands of dollars in net interest that has
accrued on the settlement amount (after payment of
administrative expenses as well as taxes on the interest).
In recognition of the length of time it has taken to
distribute the monies, the parties agreed (with court
approval) to add accumulated interest to the settlement
amount, after ensuring that sufficient funds were set aside
to pay taxes and administrative costs as required by
settlement agreement and court order.
Both the employer and employee contributions on these
settlement awards have been reported to the Department of
Retirement Systems (DRS), which will follow its customary
processes to determine whether any portion of the reported
amounts should be included in the calculation of the
retirement allowances. For any one currently retired, if the
calculation results in an increase in the amount of your
monthly retirement allowance, DRS will make adjustments as
appropriate (both retroactive and prospective).
June
2008
Common Class Lawsuit Settlement Update...
From the administrator:
“You should receive
your payment later this summer, hopefully, as the
information comes to a finalization for payments to affected
persons.
SHROLL
LITIGATION UPDATE AS OF JUNE 5, 2008
We are in the
homestretch! The Settlement Administrator is in the final
stages of calculating the back pay awards for over 14,000
class members. A painstaking review of the eligibility of
all potential class members has been completed, and all
challenges raised by potential class members have been
resolved. The final stage (which is now ongoing) involves
the calculation of back premiums owed to the Department of
Retirement Systems and, in some cases, the calculation of
back division class benefits owed to retired class members.
Representatives of the Department of Personnel and the
Department of Retirement Systems are diligently working on
this project which is expected to be completed in the near
future.
November
2006
Common Class Lawsuit Settlement Update...
Prospective relief for the first year
(i.e. an increase of one salary range across
the board benefiting all affected common
classes) will be in those affected
employees' December 11, 2006 pay check.
For retrospective relief, affected
members should be receiving a 2nd notice by
the end of the year, with checks to be
distributed sometime next year.
October 2006
Common Class Lawsuit Settlement Approved in Superior Court
On Friday, October 20, Thurston County
Superior Court Judge Wickam approved the final settlement in
the “Shroll” common class lawsuit won by WPEA/UFCW 365 and
other parties. The recipients that will benefit from this
settlement is 14,613 which is higher than the original
estimate of 9,000.
Only one objection was filed to the proposed
settlement and the judge dismissed it on the grounds that
the claim was outside the limitations period of three years
prior to the filing of the complaint.
The settlement now goes into an
administrative challenge period. So a second notice will go
out to affected employees letting them know they have 30
days to challenge the state’s information on their history
in an affected job class to ensure accuracy in the amount
owed. Once the administrative challenge period ends, the
first checks will go out as soon as practicable in
accordance with the settlement agreement.
The agreement requires that within 40 days of
the judge’s ruling, $20,994,000 will be transferred to the
settlement fund that will earn interest until the checks go
out.
The $30 million settlement was to be phased
in over five years but the terms of the WPEA 2007-09
contracts shortens the period to only two years.
Settlement payments will come in two groups:
prospective – to correct current pay disparities in the
affected classes; and retrospective – to correct past
inequities. The prospective payments should start by the
end of 2006 by boosting pay to the appropriate level as of
July 1, 2006. The payments will be retroactive to July 1,
2006. Retrospective payments will cover affected employees
from October 8, 1996 to June 30, 2005 and the lump-sum
payments should start by the spring of 2007.
Members should await official notice from the
settlement administrator for exact details on the amount and
scheduled of payment.
May 2006
Major Victory with Funding
of the Common-Class
Litigation
In October 1999, WPEA filed a
class-action lawsuit to continue our pursuit of
resolving disparities in pay between General Government
and Higher Education pay scales for similar or identical
classes.
After several years of court battles and
issues with past Legislatures not funding the
settlement, the State has finally committed to $30M in
full settlement of the "Common Class" lawsuit, with an
additional $100,000, if needed, toward the costs of
paying an independent administrator to disperse the
settlement funds.
Here are the redefined affected classes:
Prospective Common Classes
Prospective Series of Classes
Higher
Ed Classes with Salary Ranges Less than General
Government
The settlement agreement calls for both
retrospective and prospective relief. In regards to
retrospective amount, for each month between October 1,
1996 through June 30, 2005, an employee employed in a
position in a common class will receive a pro rata share
of the payout amount for the difference between the
basic salary of their class and that of the higher-paid
counterpart common class.
Example:
General Government position - Security Guard 1 paid
at range 27
Counter part Higher Education position
- Security
Guard paid at range 39
The GG Security Guard would get the pro rated share
of the settlement amount of the difference in pay
between the GG class and the HE class (i.e. the
difference between range 27 and 39) for each month
the employee held the position.
Example:
Higher Education position
- Administrative Assistant
B paid at range 42
Counter part General Government position
- Administrative Assistant 4 paid at range 46
The HE Administrative Assistant B would get the pro
rated share of the settlement amount of the
difference in pay between the HE class and the GG
class (i.e. the difference between range 42 and 46)
for each month the employee held the position.
In addition, the settlement includes pay
for those classes in the series in which an identified
class is within (i.e. General Government Security Guard
2 and 3) to avoid salary compression.
The settlement has to be approved by the State Supreme
Count, the State Appellate Court and the trial court.
With luck we hope that class members will be seeing
their share of the settlement by December!
This is a monumental win for state
employees, especially WPEA members. WPEA took on this
fight -- and were joined by other unions in the process
--
because WPEA believed that the State -- as an employer
--
could not continue to violate the law by paying
employees performing like duties differently just
because some worked in general government agencies and
some worked in higher education institutions.
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