A class action lawsuit has been filed against the resort for allegedly withholding money from employees' paychecks from 2000 to 2006. The lawsuit claims Grand Traverse Resort & Spa violated Michigan State employment and wage laws when it imposed $150 bi-weekly paycheck deductions on scores of health spa employees to help fund marketing efforts. The resort has been unilaterally and without permission deducting $150 from each paycheck as a marketing expense.
Michigan labor laws preclude deductions without express consent of employees and reporting of deductions and pay stubs.
The policy was established by the resort's former owners KSL Recreation Inc. when the spa opened in 1999. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians purchased the resort in March 2003 and eventually canceled the policy in December 2006.
"The Grand Traverse band has taken significant steps to improve reporting of employee wages but has not yet compensated employees for improper deductions from 2001 to 2006," says lawyer Enrico Schaefer of Traverse Legal. "The case will have a hearing on class action certification before the end of 2007."
