Olive Garden settles case with free apps

CHICAGO, July 14 (UPI) -- More than 12,000 U.S. diners can get free appetizers at Olive Garden, the casual restaurant chain, after a class action settlement earned final approval.

Attorney Thomas Zimmerman, a Chicago lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said $9 appetizer vouchers will be mailed out in about a month, and will be good for 120 days, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Tuesday.

The settlement arises from a 2007 federal lawsuit that accused Olive Garden of imprinting the last six digits of customers' credit card numbers on receipts, when the federal law limits the number to five.

In all, 12,631 people submitted voucher requests by the deadline earlier this year, the Florida newspaper said.