A judge has awarded $10 million to newspaper carriers and their lawyers in a lawsuit against the former owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The judge says about 1,200 carriers who delivered papers from 2005 through mid-2007 were employees entitled to reimbursement for their car mileage and other expenses -- not independent contractors who had to cover their own costs.
He ruled last month that the carriers should get $5 million, of which $1 million will go to their lawyers. On Tuesday, the judge awarded another $5 million to the lawyers.
Attorneys for The Copley Press -- the former owners -- didn't immediately comment. The paper is under new ownership and now is called U-T San Diego.
Orange County Register carriers won $38 million in a similar lawsuit in 2009.
