The federal labor board handed McDonald’s a major victory on Thursday, ordering a judge to approve a proposed settlement between the company and the government that the judge had previously rejected.

Had the case, which was initiated during the Obama administration, been litigated further, it could have made the franchise business model less profitable by putting many parent corporations on the hook for labor law violations by their franchisees.

But the National Labor Relations Board concluded that the settlement, which would pay roughly $20 to $50,000 each to more than a dozen workers, was “reasonable” and that it would advance the board’s longstanding approach of “encouraging the amicable resolution of disputes.” The board split two to one along partisan lines.

McDonald’s said in a statement that it was “pleased” that the decision brought an end to the case and that “current and former franchisee employees involved in the proceedings can now receive long overdue satisfaction of their claims.”