State settles suit with workers forced to do 9 minutes of unpaid work a day

TACOMA, Washington – Nine minutes of unpaid work a day for four years equals a proposed US$7,2 million settlement for prison guards and other state workers who were required to do such tasks as checking equipment before their shifts began.

Those are the terms of an agreement by the state Corrections Department, attorney general’s office and Teamsters Local 117 to settle a class-action lawsuit. “It worked out pretty well when all three parties got together,” said Lewis Ellsworth, a lawyer for the 1 900 affected workers.The lawsuit concerns “pass-downs” – periods before and after each shift when guards are required to check equipment, do inventories or give instructions to guards on other shifts.The pass-downs, usually six to 12 minutes a day, were outside the workers’ paid shifts.Based on payments of US$2,88 a day for each shift worked from March 30 2000, to April 1 2004, a typical guard who worked 224 shifts a year for four years stands to receive US$2 580 under the agreement, which also includes funds for court costs and lawyers’ fees.If the legislature fails to approve the deal next year, the case could go to trial.The settlement, negotiated in three days of mediation, does not include an admission of liability by the state.Ellsworth recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 400 prison sergeants and lieutenants over the same pass-down issue.The state has yet to respond.- Nampa-AP”It worked out pretty well when all three parties got together,” said Lewis Ellsworth, a lawyer for the 1 900 affected workers.The lawsuit concerns “pass-downs” – periods before and after each shift when guards are required to check equipment, do inventories or give instructions to guards on other shifts.The pass-downs, usually six to 12 minutes a day, were outside the workers’ paid shifts.Based on payments of US$2,88 a day for each shift worked from March 30 2000, to April 1 2004, a typical guard who worked 224 shifts a year for four years stands to receive US$2 580 under the agreement, which also includes funds for court costs and lawyers’ fees.If the legislature fails to approve the deal next year, the case could go to trial.The settlement, negotiated in three days of mediation, does not include an admission of liability by the state.Ellsworth recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 400 prison sergeants and lieutenants over the same pass-down issue.The state has yet to respond.- Nampa-AP