The Chicago Tribune has agreed to pay a total of $660,000 to 46 current and former TribLocal reporters to settle a class-action lawsuit over unpaid overtime wages.
The settlement offer was mailed this week to reporters who worked for TribLocal between February 2009 and September 2012. Those who don’t opt out will receive an average of $9,000 each after attorneys fees and costs.
“The settlement reflects overtime allegedly worked by TribLocal reporters for which they were not paid,” said Douglas Werman, a Chicago-based labor and employment attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit in February 2012. “We believe the settlement provides an excellent result to class members.”
A federal judge issued preliminary approval for the settlement last month, with final approval slated for June, according to Werman.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on behalf of Carolyn Rusin, who worked as a staff reporter for TribLocal from July 2010 to October 2011. Assigned to cover stories in the Barrington area and Palatine, she regularly worked more than 40 hours per week, but received only five hours of overtime pay in 2011, according to the suit.
Werman said Rusin needed 50 to 60 hours each week to fulfill her assignments.
A Chicago Tribune spokesperson declined comment.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, eligible employees must be paid 1 1/2 times their hourly wage for every hour worked over 40 hours each week. Many professions have exemptions to the requirements, and journalists are among those who may not qualify for overtime pay, depending on the nature of their work.
Werman said a journalist is exempt when considered to be a “creative professional” whose work involves “invention, imagination and talent.” Rusin, and other TribLocal reporters, who mostly covered school board and municipal meetings, failed to meet that standard and were therefore eligible for overtime pay, according to Werman.
TribLocal was launched in 2007 using staff reporters, freelance writers and user-generated content to produce hyperlocal Chicago-area community news. Last April, Tribune Co. made an undisclosed investment in Journatic, outsourcing coverage for TribLocal’s websites and weekly print editions to the Chicago-based content provider. Journatic was suspended in July for plagiarism and other ethical breaches, and editorial responsibility was returned to the Chicago Tribune newsroom. TribLocal resumed use of Journatic on a limited basis in December.
rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick
