P.F. Chang’s LLC Settlement: Payouts, Deadlines, and Eligibility

If you worked as a non-exempt hourly employee at a P.F. Chang’s restaurant in California between November 10, 2018 and July 15, 2024, you are a class member in the current P.F. Chang’s wage class action settlement, a $4 million deal in Galloway v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. that pays eligible workers automatically based on the number of weeks they worked. No claim form is required. The final approval hearing was set for November 3, 2025.¹²

Who Is Covered

The settlement class includes all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for P.F. Chang’s in California at any point from November 10, 2018 through July 15, 2024. A narrower subgroup, covering claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), runs from July 25, 2019 through the same end date. Together, the class accounts for roughly 447,000 estimated work weeks.²

The case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court (Case No. 20STCV36407) and consolidates four separate lawsuits: Galloway, the Sandoval PAGA action, the Cookson federal case out of San Diego, and the Vega action from Orange County. Workers from any of those cases are covered by the single $4 million deal.²

How Much You’ll Get and How Payment Works

The $4 million fund is non-reversionary, so unclaimed money does not revert to the company. Before individual payments are calculated, the fund is reduced by:³

Up to $1,333,333 in attorney fees (one-third of the fund) plus up to $45,000 in litigation costs
$200,000 in PAGA civil penalties, with 75 percent going to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the remaining $50,000 distributed to affected workers
Up to $10,000 each for the four named plaintiffs (Cindy Galloway, Julio Sandoval, Jordan Cookson, and Edgar Villalobos), totaling $40,000
Up to $47,000 in administration costs paid to ILYM Group, Inc.

Whatever remains is the net settlement fund. It is divided among class members pro rata, based on the number of weeks each person worked during the class period. P.F. Chang’s provides the workweek data from its own payroll records, so there is no claim form to fill out and no need to submit documentation. Checks are mailed directly by the settlement administrator.²

For tax reporting, each individual payment is split: 80 percent is treated as penalties and interest (reported on a 1099) and 20 percent as wages (reported on a W-2).²

The deal has two moving parts worth knowing. If actual class work weeks exceed the 447,000 estimate by more than 10 percent, the fund scales up proportionally to a ceiling of $4.15 million. And if more than 5 percent of class members opt out, P.F. Chang’s has the right to void the agreement entirely.²

Key Dates and Contact Information

The deadline for class members to opt out, object, or dispute their workweek count was September 13, 2025. The final approval hearing was scheduled for November 3, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. CABIA records list the case status as “Settled” with an October 2025 notation.¹³

Payments typically go out after final approval becomes effective. If you have questions about your eligibility, payment amount, or address on file, contact the administrator:

ILYM Group, Inc.
Phone: 888-250-6810
Mail: PO Box 2031, Tustin, CA 92781

If you worked for P.F. Chang’s in California during the class period and have moved recently, update your mailing address with ILYM so the check reaches you.¹

What the Lawsuit Alleged

The consolidated complaint accused P.F. Chang’s III, LLC, the subsidiary that operates the California restaurants, of failing to pay minimum and overtime wages, denying required meal and rest breaks, shortchanging sick pay and reporting-time pay, issuing inaccurate wage statements, failing to reimburse business expenses, and withholding timely final wages when employees left the company. PAGA claims sought civil penalties on behalf of the state for those same labor code violations.² P.F. Chang’s denied the allegations and agreed to settle without admitting wrongdoing.

By accepting the settlement payment (or by not opting out), class members release P.F. Chang’s from these California wage-and-hour claims for the covered period.

If You Worked at P.F. Chang’s Before November 2018

Earlier P.F. Chang’s wage settlements already resolved claims for prior periods, and those windows are closed.

A $6.5 million California settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino on May 21, 2018 covered roughly 17,000 non-exempt hourly workers employed between January 22, 2009 and May 21, 2018. The allegations were similar: missed meal and rest breaks, unpaid minimum, overtime, double-time, reporting-time, and split-shift wages. That deal consolidated the Andrade, Pearson, and Kidner actions.⁴⁵

Separately, a $2.65 million settlement in Illinois federal court the same year covered nearly 2,900 tipped employees who alleged unpaid minimum wage, unpaid overtime, and improper handling of tips under federal and state law.⁶⁷

Tipped Workers Outside California: The Belt Case

A separate federal collective action, Belt v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. (Case No. 18-3831-AB, E.D. Pa.), focused on the company’s use of the tip credit, which lets restaurants pay tipped employees below the standard minimum wage on the assumption that tips cover the gap. Servers alleged the chain applied tip-credit rates while assigning excessive non-tipped side work such as sweeping, cleaning kitchen equipment, and rolling silverware.⁸

Roughly 6,211 workers opted into the collective. The parties reached a settlement after December 2023 mediation and executed a formal agreement on May 6, 2024, then filed for preliminary court approval. The dollar amount of that settlement was redacted from public filings at both sides’ request.⁹

1
ILYM Group. P.F. Changs Settlement
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IRP CDN. Galloway et al v. PF Changs – Long Form Settlement Agreement
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CABIA. Cindy Galloway, et al. v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., et al.
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Counsel Financial. Judge Approves P.F. Changs $6.5M Wage and Hour Settlement
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Law360. PF Changs Gets OK on $6.5M Calif Wage and Hour Deal
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Bloomberg Law. PF Changs Agrees to Settle Wage Claims for $2.65 Million
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Law360. PF Changs Inks $2.7M Settlement With Tipped Employees
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Restaurant Law Center. Steven Belt et al. v. P.F. Changs China Bistro, Inc.
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Simpluris. Belt v. PF Changs – Memorandum in Support of Joint Motion for Preliminary Settlement Approval