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Pittston Area teachers OK new contract

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Lawmakers push borrowing, gambling bills in PA budget scramble

<p>WILKES-BARRE (AP) &#8212; The owners of 16 local McDonald&#8217;s restaurants are paying nearly $1 million to settle a four-year dispute about paying hourly employees with debit cards that carried steep fees.</p><p>A state appellate court last year upheld a lower court finding that the payroll cards were not &#8220;lawful money&#8221; or a &#8220;check,&#8221; as required under Pennsylvania wage law. That decision paved the way for the settlement with franchise owners Albert and Carol Mueller of Clarks Summit.</p><p>Attorney Michael Cefalo told the Times Leader in early September that many of the nearly 2,400 plaintiffs he was representing in the class-action lawsuit were younger employees.</p><p>&#8220;The kids won, and McDonald&#8217;s lost,&#8221; said Cefalo, West Pittston.</p><p>The eight employees named in the suit, or the lead plaintiffs, will receive $1,250 each plus the debit-card fees they paid, according to WNEP. All others &#8212; only a few hundred of the roughly 2,400 signed paperwork to collect &#8212; will get $100 plus fee reimbursement.</p><p>Meanwhile, a judge&#8217;s order shows the plaintiffs&#8217; attorneys will receive $858,000 in fees and court costs.</p><p>Cefalo said in September a settlement was reached and Luzerne County Judge Thomas F. Burke Jr. gave it preliminary approval. At a hearing this week, Burke finalized the compensation.</p><p>The lawsuit against the Muellers began when the plaintiffs <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/599169/higher-court-upholds-judges-decision-in-mcdonalds-payroll-card-suit" target="_blank">alleged </a>that high fees on the debit cards they were paid with took a chunk out of their hourly earnings.</p><p>The suit attracted national attention when it was first filed in 2013. It was initiated by Natalie Gunshannon, who worked at the McDonald&#8217;s in Shavertown.</p><p>Gunshannon, a single mother who lived in Dallas Township at the time, complained she was receiving less than minimum wage if she used the payroll card issued by J.P. Morgan Chase and incurred the fees.</p><style>
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McDonald’s class-action suit settled for nearly $1M