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Years after the United Farm Workers (UFW) fired several of its field organizers and was subsequently sued by these former workers, both parties have finally reached a settlement. The UFW has agreed to pay around $1.3 million, with this number including attorney fees and penalties as well as the back wages originally owed to the plaintiffs. The 2014 lawsuit initiated by former organizer Francisco Cerritos claimed that the UFW did not compensate him and 23 others for working over 8 hours a day and over 40 hours a week; in addition, the union did not provide these employees with meal periods following 5 hours of work. While Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas W. Wills ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the UFW to pay these back wages, the union began a lengthy appeal process whose costs added up to nearly $1.8 million, half of which came from union dues. UFW representatives claim that the substantial costs arising out of the appeal process outweighed the amount asked for in the settlement, so the union decided to take this route confident that at least the settlement will be going towards paying former workers as opposed to their attorneys.