By VICTOR SKINNER
TRAVERSE CITY -- The Grand Traverse Resort and Spa reached a proposed settlement with about 150 employees in a labor lawsuit.
Attorneys on both sides of the aisle won't disclose potential settlement details until a judge formally approves the deal, likely this spring. But Traverse City attorney Mark Clark, one of two lawyers who represent about 150 current and former Resort employees, said a settlement was reached through mediation in December.
"Until the court approves it we have agreed that it will remain confidential. Because it is a class-action the court has to approve the settlement," Clark said. "We have the framework for an agreement, it just needs to be approved by the court."
The Acme-based Resort allegedly violated state employment and wage laws when, between 2000 and 2006, it imposed $150 bi-weekly paycheck deductions for numerous health spa employees. The Resort, one of the county's largest employers, allegedly used the revenue to help fund its marketing efforts and could be liable for more than $1 million, based on allegations in a class action suit filed in June in 13th Circuit Court.
Enrico Schaefer, an attorney working with Clark, said their clients were not informed of the deductions.
"A Michigan statute makes it unlawful for employers to deduct amounts from an employee's paycheck with out their full, free, and written consent," Schaefer said in July. "This particular deduction was never disclosed to employees and they never even knew about it."
Grand Traverse spokesman J. Michael DeAgostino said Resort officials were unavailable for comment.
The deductions stemmed from a policy established by the Resort's former owners, KSL Recreation Inc., when the spa opened in 1999. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians purchased the resort in 2003 and canceled the policy three years later, Schaefer previously said.
Tobin H. Dust, Saginaw attorney for Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, wouldn't discuss the case.
Clark said he expects additional "information would become available when the settlement is approved."
