Historic Cooperstown hotel settles $550K lawsuit

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Credit otesaga.com

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — The historic Otesaga hotel overlooking Lake Otsego in Cooperstown has settled a lawsuit filed by workers who said they weren't receiving proceeds from service charges.

The Daily Star of Oneonta reports that Leatherstocking Corporation, owner of the resort hotel, has agreed to pay a $550,000 settlement in a federal class-action lawsuit filed in Albany in 2010.

The hotel's restaurant wait staff and other employees claimed that the company's actions violated New York labor law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The case focused on a "service/gratuity" charge that the hotel assessed on guests and restaurant patrons.

In settling in the lawsuit, the hotel maintained that it did nothing wrong.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.