Jersey City, New Jersey- Attorneys for the parties, Jennifer Ching, Esq. of the ACLU-NJ Foundation on behalf of plaintiffs, and Robert E. Margulies, Esq. of Margulies, Wind, Herrington & Knopf on behalf of defendants, are pleased to announce that they have reached an amicable resolution of the claims which plaintiffs had filed in Cruz v. Universal Distribution Center LLC, et al, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The Complaint was brought for violation of State and Federal Wage and Hour Laws as well as the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The defendants denied the allegations and all parties agreed that the settlement provided no admission of liability. The resolution was accomplished through the mediation efforts of Paul Schachter of the Center for Creative Mediation in New York City before extensive discovery was undertaken, thereby substantially minimizing the expense of the litigation. The global settlement was $100,000.00 for the eleven plaintiffs. Class action status was pleaded, although not yet certified. The parties agreed to ensure future compliance with wage and hour laws by issuance of a notice in English and Spanish to all the defendants' employees explaining the wage and hour requirements and workplace protections. The defendants apologized to the plaintiffs at the conclusion of the mediation, which was well received. Plaintiffs have agreed to submit sworn statements and testimony to confirm the factual basis of their claims as a further condition of the settlement.