U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro in Las Vegas approved the settlement yesterday and awarded one-third of the recovery in fees to the workers' lawyers, up to about $28 million depending on the claims made. Walmart is to pay at least $65 million and as much as $85 million.

The workers claimed that Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart violated wage-and-hour laws by denying them rest breaks and manipulating time cards to reduce their pay. The accord is part of a global $640 million resolution of wage-and-hour claims reached in December between Walmart and workers.

"We're going to seem some real money distributed to people," said workers' attorney Carolyn Beasley Burton. "Hundreds of thousands of people will get a check in the next few months of $150 to $1,000. It's a nice little stimulus package." (Bloomberg)

This class-action suit involving three million employees accross many states, over many years, is coming to a satisfying resolution. Following on the heels of Michael Moore's film 'Capitalism: A Love Story,' which chronicles the growing exploitation of workers, this approval of the workers' wage suit settlement really warms the heart. Maybe, in fact, the average American worker still has the power to demand fair treatment from selfish corporate entities.