Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will pay more than 250 managers who worked for the casual apparel retailer’s stores across California $2 million to settle charges it denied workers overtime pay.

The suit alleged that Abercrombie improperly classified its store managers as exempt to avoid paying overtime, even though their duties entitled them to overtime pay, Los Angeles-based Quisenberry Law Firm said in a statement.

“For many of these managers, this was their first job. Some didn’t know they were entitled to overtime and others were too afraid of losing their first job to speak up. Abercrombie took advantage and made its managers do the same job as hourly sales clerks who are paid overtime,” said Robert J. Drexler, a senior associate with Quisenberry, in the statement.

The settlement, approved Thursday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth R. Freeman, was for managers who worked for New Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie from July 10, 1998, to April 30, 2004.

The case was filed in July 2002 and was granted class-action status on Sept. 14, 2004. Quisenberry represented the class-action group.