LQ Management LLC, a Texas-based operator of the La Quinta hotel chain, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a putative class action suit claiming that the hotel failed to provide housekeepers with meal and rest breaks and failed to pay proper amounts of overtime pay.

The proposed class action includes over 1900 housekeepers who worked at La Quinta locations in California and involves claims of inaccurate overtime wage payments dating back to 2006. LQ Management operates more than 800 La Quinta hotels, with more than 50 locations in California alone.

The initial lawsuit was filed in October 2010 and alleged that the nonexempt La Quinta housekeepers did not receive compensation for the overtime hours they worked. The suit was original brought in California Superior Court but was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on the basis of jurisdiction provided by the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA).

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs also claim that La Quinta did not allow them to take 10 minute rest breaks, a violation of California employment law, and intentionally failed to itemize employees’ wage statements. If approved, class members may be entitled to receive upwards of $4000 in penalties under state employment law.

La Quinta denies all wrongdoing alleged in the lawsuit and claims to have agreed to settle the lawsuit due to the “protracted and expensive” costs of litigation.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide wage and hour practice representing employees whose rights have been violated.