SEATTLE (AP) — Several companies that provide transportation and hospitality services at or near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have agreed to settle back-pay lawsuits alleging that they ignored the nation's first $15 minimum wage law after it took effect, deals that will put more than $12 million in the pockets of their current and former workers.
The cases are among about two dozen filed against businesses that include airport staffing firms, rental car agencies, hotels and parking lots in SeaTac, where the airport is located.
Since the city passed the nation's first $15-an-hour minimum wage law in 2013, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities have followed.
Menzies, which operates in 31 countries and also provides workers for British Airways at Sea-Tac, has agreed to pay nearly $8.2 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of 738 past and current workers, with each receiving an average payout of just under $10,000 after attorneys' fees, court documents say.
