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Alaska Airlines to Pay $25 Million for Non-Compliant Wage Statements

A judge ruled a more than $25 million verdict against Alaska Airlines and ordered the money to be split between the state of California, the plaintiff and a thousand other flight attendants

Alaska Airlines was ordered to pay $25 million to about a thousand of its employees for withholding information on wage statements.

Julie Gunther, a San Diego resident, filed the lawsuit against Alaska Airlines after she started to get suspicious when her checks were inconsistent.

"In one month she flew one route and got paid a certain amount, and another month she had a similar trip and got paid differently," said Shannon Nocon, Gunther's attorney. "She didn't know if it was an error or if it was something different because the documentation wasn't available."

Nocon says Gunther started working as a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines in 2015. Two years later, she filed the lawsuit, claiming the airline wasn't providing adequate information on her wage statements.

"We asked them to provide her with the information and they didn't comply," explained Nocon.

But representatives with Alaska Airlines say they've done nothing wrong, claiming flight attendants perform most of their work in federally regulated air space and have separate labor agreements.

"Trying to comply with California law simultaneously, potentially the laws of other states and our collective bargaining agreements is difficult if not impossible," said Alaska Airlines.

Last month, a judge ruled a more than $25 million verdict against Alaska Airlines and ordered the money to be split between the state of California, Gunther and a thousand other flight attendants.

The judge also ordered Alaska Airlines to comply with California Labor Code 226 by January, which includes providing all California flight attendants with proper wage documents.

Alaska Airlines is appealing the ruling.

"We believe the court did not fully appreciate the inconsistencies between the California law at issue and the collectively bargained agreement that governs Alaska Airlines and our flight attendants," explained Alaska Airlines.

A hearing for that appeal has not yet been set.

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