U.S. Bank of California

The U.S. Bank of California has been charged in a class action lawsuit of illegally charging employees, many of whom are lower-paid workers without personal checking accounts, a $10 fee to cash their paychecks. Many of these employees live paycheck to paycheck and rely on their employers to cash their checks. The suit alleges that the bank's fees have violated the company's California Labor Code, requiring paychecks to be negotiable and payable in cash, on demand, without discount. The Department of Industrial Relations, which enforces the Labor Code, has stated that this type of bank fee violates the California Labor Code, and employers may be liable to criminal prosecution and substantial penalties under Labor Code 215 and 225.