Target to start sending out checks to employees as part of $4.7 million settlement

Eligible Target employees do not need to take action to receive a payment in the New Jersey settlement

Target is preparing to issue settlement checks totaling $4.6 million to about 13,700 current and former employees, following a class action lawsuit over unpaid wages.

Lead plaintiff Krystal Sadler filed the lawsuit, Sadler v. Target Corp., in November 2022 on behalf of hourly, non-exempt workers at Target’s New Jersey distribution centers.

Sadler alleged that the company failed to compensate employees for all time worked, including mandatory security screenings and long walks to and from their workstations before and after scheduled shifts, which is required by New Jersey law.

Target denied the wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to avoid protracted litigation.

Under the terms of the agreement, eligible workers who were employed at the Burlington, Perth Amboy, and Logan Township facilities from August 6, 2019, onward are expected to receive payments calculated on a pro rata basis based on Target’s payroll records.

Eligible workers at Target facilities in Burlington, Perth Amboy, and Logan Township, New Jersey, since August 2019, will receive pro-rata payments based on payroll records (Getty Images)

Employees do not need to take action to receive a payment.

Those in the suit who do not opt out by the current deadline, set for February 13, 2026, will automatically receive settlement checks once the court grants final approval.

A federal court denied Target’s request to pause the case in March 2025. Now, a fairness hearing is scheduled for February 24, after which distribution is expected to begin.

The settlement funds are allocated with roughly $2.75 million set for employee payments, about $1.53 million for attorneys’ fees, and $10,000 awarded to Sadler, according to Sourcing Journal.

Recipients will receive appropriate tax forms reflecting the portions of the payment treated as wages or non-wage compensation.

The Independent has contacted Target representatives for comment.

The New Jersey lawsuit alleged Target did not pay workers for required time, including security checks and long walks, as mandated by state law (AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, two plaintiffs filed a similar complaint against Target in New York in August 2025.

Jeanna Kratzert, a former worker at Target’s Wilton warehouse, and Neil Mosher, a current employee at the same facility.

An additional former employee from the Amsterdam warehouse joined the lawsuit through an amended complaint filed in November 2025.

The New York lawsuit alleges that unpaid walking time can cost workers $1,000 to $2,000 per year, totaling more than $2 million in unpaid wages.

"In this day and age, there is no technological barrier to paying plaintiffs and other employees for such time," the New York filing said. "Target already tracks the times plaintiffs and other employees enter and, in some cases, leave the building, so it can readily calculate the time plaintiffs and other employees spend walking to and from their assigned time clocks inside the warehouse."