In the $1,732,500 Menasha Packaging wage settlement, a workweek worked before January 17, 2022 is worth about four times as much as one worked after it. That split, tied to the date Menasha says it stopped rounding employees’ time, matters more to the size of a check than almost anything else. Hourly workers and staffing-agency temps at Menasha’s California sites from January 15, 2017 through September 15, 2024 are paid automatically, with no claim form.
Status: Preliminarily approved, pending final approval | No claim form — payment is automatic | Opt out, object or challenge workweeks by November 21, 2026 | Final approval hearing February 9, 2027
What the Workers Alleged
The case is Tello v. Menasha Packaging Company, LLC, et al., No. 20STCV13818, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, before Judge William F. Highberger. Five former workers brought cases that were combined. The defendants are Menasha Packaging Company, LLC, Menasha Corporation and the staffing firm Simplified Labor Staffing Solutions, Inc.
The workers alleged that the companies did not pay California hourly employees for all hours worked at minimum and overtime rates, did not provide compliant meal and rest breaks or pay the premiums owed for missed ones, did not reimburse work expenses, paid wages late and issued inaccurate wage statements. They also alleged inadequate working conditions, including seating, restrooms and temperatures, and sought civil penalties under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
The companies deny breaking any law and say they followed every applicable rule. The court has not decided who is right; the parties reached the deal through a mediator. Judge Highberger preliminarily approved it, and the administrator, Simpluris, has mailed notices and opened the settlement website.
Temp Workers Are Covered Too
The class is not limited to people on Menasha’s own payroll. It includes all current and former hourly, non-exempt California employees of Menasha Packaging Company or Menasha Corporation, plus temporary hourly workers assigned to Menasha in California through Simplified Labor Staffing Solutions or any other staffing agency, at any time from January 15, 2017 through September 15, 2024.
A separate PAGA group, the “aggrieved employees,” covers the same kinds of workers from July 31, 2018 through September 15, 2024. Most class members fall into both groups.
About 500 workers Menasha cannot find
Menasha has no addresses for about 500 workers placed at its Rialto and Tracy locations by one staffing agency from about July 2022 onward. For that group, the court ordered targeted notice in those areas through Facebook and Instagram ads, Google search ads and Spanish-language streaming radio ads. If you worked a temp assignment at either site in that period and never received anything in the mail, you can give the administrator your contact information through the settlement website so a check can be sent.
How Much Reaches Workers
Before any worker is paid, class counsel will ask the court to approve these amounts from the $1,732,500 fund:
| Attorneys’ fees | Up to $779,625 (45% of the fund) |
| Litigation costs | Up to $57,500 |
| Service awards | Up to $10,000 for each of the five named plaintiffs ($50,000 total) |
| Administration | Up to $39,374.41 |
| PAGA penalties | $75,000 — $56,250 to the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency, $18,750 to workers |
If every deduction is approved at its maximum, roughly $731,000 is left for class payments. Class members are allowed to object to any of these amounts, including the 45% fee request.
Why the 2022 Cutoff Matters
The net fund is divided by workweek, using Menasha’s and the staffing agencies’ payroll records, in two pools of very different sizes:
| January 15, 2017 – January 16, 2022 | 80% of the net fund. This is the period when Menasha says it was rounding employees’ time. |
| January 17, 2022 – September 15, 2024 | 20% of the net fund, after Menasha says rounding stopped. |
The preliminary approval order estimates about 51,684 workweeks in the first period and 52,588 in the second — nearly the same number — so each earlier workweek carries about four times the value. As an illustration only, and assuming every requested deduction is approved and nobody opts out, OpenClassActions.com puts the value at roughly $11.30 per workweek in the earlier period and roughly $2.80 per workweek in the later one. The $18,750 PAGA share is divided separately by PAGA-period workweeks.
Your notice states your estimated payment and the number of workweeks credited to you. Actual amounts will differ from the illustration.
Checking and Challenging Your Workweeks
No proof is needed to be paid. If you think your credited workweeks are too low — especially workweeks before January 17, 2022 — you can challenge the number by sending the administrator a signed letter with copies of pay stubs or other records by November 21, 2026. Without records that say otherwise, the administrator accepts the companies’ numbers, and its decision on a challenge is final.
Opting Out or Objecting
November 21, 2026 is also the deadline to opt out or send a written objection. Workers whose notice was re-mailed, or who learned about the settlement through the online and radio notice, get 15 more days. Requests go to the administrator.
An opt-out must be a signed letter with your name, current address and telephone number and a statement asking to be excluded. Opting out means no class payment, but you keep any individual wage claims. You cannot opt out of the PAGA portion, so an aggrieved employee who opts out still receives any PAGA payment. Class members who stay in can object in person or online at the final approval hearing.
What Happens After February 9
The motions for final approval and for fees, costs and service awards are due at least 16 court days before the hearing, which is set for February 9, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. in Department 10 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Spring Street courthouse. You can attend in person or remotely through LACourtConnect, and the court can move the date.
If the court grants final approval, the companies must fund the settlement within 20 days after the judgment becomes final, which takes longer if there are objections or an appeal. Each participating worker then gets one mailed check that combines the class and PAGA payments. No final approval order has been entered and no payment date has been announced. If the court denies approval, the settlement is void and nobody is paid.
Checks carry a void date. A lost check can be replaced if the request reaches the administrator before that date; money from checks not cashed in time goes to the California State Controller’s Unclaimed Property Fund in the worker’s name.
The One Thing to Do
Checks go to the address the notice was mailed to, so anyone who has moved should update it. Address updates, workweek challenges, opt-outs and the full settlement documents are handled through the official Menasha settlement website. The Menasha Packaging settlement page on OpenClassActions.com is updated as the hearing approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to file a claim in the Menasha Packaging wage settlement?
No. There is no claim form. Class members are paid automatically from the companies’ and staffing agencies’ payroll records if the court grants final approval.
I was a temp placed at Menasha by a staffing agency. Am I included?
Yes. Hourly, non-exempt workers assigned to Menasha’s California locations through Simplified Labor Staffing Solutions or any other staffing agency from January 15, 2017 through September 15, 2024 are in the class.
Why are my older workweeks worth more?
The settlement sends 80% of the net fund to workweeks through January 16, 2022, when Menasha says it stopped rounding time, and 20% to later workweeks. The two periods have about the same number of workweeks, so each earlier week is worth about four times as much.
I worked at Rialto or Tracy and never got a notice. What should I do?
Menasha has no addresses for about 500 workers placed at those sites by one staffing agency from about July 2022 on. Send your contact information to the administrator through the settlement website so a payment can be mailed.
Can I opt out of the PAGA payment?
No. You can opt out of the class settlement, but not the PAGA portion. If you opt out you lose the class payment, keep your own wage claims, and still get any PAGA payment.
When will checks be mailed?
No payment date has been announced. The companies fund the settlement within 20 days after the judgment becomes final, which can only happen after the February 9, 2027 final approval hearing.
Sources
- Official Menasha settlement website, run by Simpluris, including the FAQs, important dates and settlement documents.
- Court-approved notice of class action settlement, Tello v. Menasha Packaging Company, LLC, et al. — notice (PDF).
- Stipulation of class action and PAGA settlement and order granting preliminary approval, Los Angeles County Superior Court, No. 20STCV13818.
- OpenClassActions.com — Menasha Packaging $1.73M California Wage & PAGA Settlement.
Source and credit: the settlement terms, deadlines and benefit details described above are drawn from our sister site’s reporting — OpenClassActions.com: Menasha Packaging $1.73M California Wage & PAGA Settlement — which tracks this case against the court-approved notice and the official settlement website and is updated as the court rules.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. OpenClassActions.org is a consumer news site, not a law firm and not the settlement administrator, and is not affiliated with any party to the case described. The allegations are allegations; unless a court has ruled, the defendants deny wrongdoing and no court has decided the merits. Deadlines, benefit amounts and payment timing can change as the court and the administrator act, so confirm current status on the official settlement website. You never need to pay anyone to file a claim or to receive a settlement payment.