(AP) — The former owner of a Nebraska meatpacking company has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by former employees.

Private equity firm MatlinPatterson agreed to the settlement without admitting any wrongdoing. The firm was a majority owner of Premium Protein Products when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009.

Former employees claimed the company violated federal law when it furloughed hundreds of employees for months without pay and then filed for bankruptcy.

The company’s Hastings plant was sold in 2010 and its Lincoln plant remains closed.

The law firm representing the employees called the settlement a good result. A message for officials with MatlinPatterson was not immediately returned Thursday.