Articles Posted in wage and hour lawsuit

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McDonald’s Corp. continues to insist it isn’t a joint employer of workers employed by franchise restaurants. Nonetheless, it agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle a lawsuit over the labor law violations of a franchisee – and it’s a move that has many other large companies sitting uneasy. mcdonalds

Attorneys for 800 workers employed at five different restaurants owned by a single franchisee announced in a federal district court in California that the international fast-food chain, based in Illinois, would pay $1.75 million in back pay to the workers and $2 million in legal fees. The class action lawsuit alleged that McDonald’s, alongside its franchisee, Smith Family LP, was in violation of California labor laws for its:

  • Failure to pay overtime;
  • Failure to maintain accurate records;
  • Failure to reimburse workers for time they spent cleaning their uniforms.

Continue Reading ›

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Starbucks Corp. baristas objecting to company policy to withhold taxes from their pay based on estimated tips – rather than actual tips – will have to take their dispute to state court. tipjar

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided in Fredrickson v. Starbucks Corp. that it lacked subject matter jurisdictions over plaintiff’s claims. Specifically, the federal-state comity doctrine – which is the idea that courts shouldn’t act in a way that demeans the jurisdiction, laws or judicial decisions of another jurisdiction – would prohibit the federal court from awarding any type of damages on the state-tax component of these claims. The federal tax component of the claim couldn’t be severed, justices ruled, so the entire action had to be decided in state court.

It’s a set back for the three plaintiffs, who filed the class action wage dispute lawsuit in Oregon.  Continue Reading ›

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A federal district court was mistaken in granting summary judgment to manufacturer DuPont in a dispute regarding employee overtime claims, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In Smiley v. El DuPont de Nemours & Co., the appellate panel ruled the company can’t use the compensation it gave workers for meal breaks (which it was not required to do) as an offset for overtime compensation due. worker

This was true even though the meal break pay during the 12-hour shift often exceeded the 30-to-60 minutes for which workers weren’t paid for donning/ doffing their uniforms and protective gear and conducting “shift relief,” that involved incoming and outgoing workers to share information about the status of the work. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn’t authorize this kind of offsetting for overtime compensation, the court ruled, citing its 2005 precedential holding in Wheeler v. Hampton Twp. In that case, the court held that offsetting overtime pay is confined to situations in which employers are paying “extra compensation” at the premium rate of 1.5 times the regular hourly.

According to court records, employees at the plant routinely worked 12-hour shifts. They were required to be on site for a period of time before and after each shift in order to participate in “shift relief” and to don and doff their protective gear and uniforms. Typically in total this took a half hour to an hour. Continue Reading ›

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Wells Fargo may have won the most recent round of wage and hour theft litigation, but the scrutiny it appears is far from over. worker

In Richardson v. Wells Fargo Bank, plaintiffs allege defendant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by improperly classifying them as exempt employees, and thus failing to pay them the appropriate overtime they were due. Specifically, these were home mortgage consultants that were classified as being exempt from overtime .However, plaintiffs were also members of a class that had settled a class action lawsuit in California over these FLSA claims. The members had opted out of that settlement, but the district court ruled the previous settlement precluded this lawsuit and satisfied due process requirements. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed and agreed, affirming district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendant.

But that isn’t likely to be the end of Wells Fargo’s legal woes. CNNMoney has been following the newest wage theft violations, which has drawn the attention of the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), which is reportedly now investigating after receiving “a number” of whistleblower complaints from the bank’s workers over the last five years.  Continue Reading ›

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In Hill v. Delaware North Co. Sportservice, the plaintiffs worked at the concessions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  This is the stadium where the Baltimore Orioles play their home games.  This was an employment lawsuit filed over an alleged breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The FLSA applies to employees in many situations in this jurisdiction as well as in the state of California.

professionalIn Hill, these employees were working for a company that provides concessions, including the sale of food and merchandise, at the baseball stadium.  These days, it is much more likely that the people who work at a stadium or other type of large event work for a contractor as opposed to the owners of the facility itself.  These contractors, of which there are only couple in each region of the county, will typically handle concessions for many different facilities.  Since there is not full-time work at any one stadium in most cases, it is common for these employees to work at different sporting facilities and convection centers to get more hours.  This is also true in terms of the private security personnel at a sporting event though they are usually employed by a different contractor than the one that handles the food and merchandise concessions. There is no question that sporting events are big business, and this is just part of the business. Continue Reading ›

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The U.S. Department of Labor should investigate alleged wage theft by Chipotle Mexican Grill, says U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. restaurant1

The burrito chain, which last year grappled with a host of food safety problems, is now facing down allegations from 10,000 current and former workers who have joined a federal lawsuit alleging the company failed to properly pay them for the hours worked.

If the allegations are true, DeLauro said, this would be a direct violation of federal law, and would fall under the purview of the DOL. If the agency were to launch an investigation, regulators would have the power to impose federal fines.  Continue Reading ›

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A popular Bay Area restaurant chain is facing down accusations of California wage violations for failure to properly pay its kitchen staff, according to media reports. The workers accuse the company, Burma Superstar, of:

  • Failing to pay minimum wage;
  • Denying workers overtime pay;
  • Refusing workers breaks;
  • Wrongly refusing workers sick leave. asianfood

The chain is famous for its tea leaf salad, which has become wildly popular in recent years. The kitchen staffers say they prided themselves on doing a good job and worked hard to make the chain successful. The fact that they were denied fair wages was an affront not just to their finances, but to the loyalty and dedication they had shown to the job.

Workers are now pursuing class action status for the lawsuit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court. Plaintiffs are asking for back wages, attorneys fees and other penalties. Continue Reading ›

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A wage theft lawsuit filed by former employees of Wahlburgers, a restaurant chain opened by actor Mark Wahlberg and two of his brothers, alleges the chain illegally withheld wages and tips. restaurant1

The restaurant chain was founded by the actor and his brothers, Donnie and Paul, five years ago and is at the center of an A&E reality television series. Paul, who is a chef, oversees day-to-day operations at the restaurant.

A class action lawsuit asserts that management at the New York Coney Island branch, which opened its doors last fall, was the site of “rampant wage theft and violations of federal and state employment laws.” Specifically, it is alleged the restaurant paid workers for fewer hours than they worked. Also, when they worked overtime, they were not paid time-and-a-half, as required by federal law. Finally, the restaurant is accused of unlawfully forcing servers to pool their tips to share with non-tipped staffers in the kitchen. The “back of the house” staff were paid regular wages, while “front of the house” servers received the minimum wages allowable for tipped workers (considerably less), without meeting the strict criteria that would enable an employer to apply that tip credit. The workers also assert that following a private event held for the cast of Blue Bloods, starring Donnie Wahlberg, the restaurant wrongly withheld the $3,000 tip left by the cast.  Continue Reading ›

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The federal government has filed a lawsuit alleging a major airline company breached a pilot’s employment rights by refusing to provide sick leave when he was called to serve on active duty for the U.S. Air Force. airforce

The Air Force Reservist, a lieutenant colonel, reportedly sought to use some of his sick leave to compensate for the time he had to take off work during his deployment from December 2012 to March 2013. According to the U.S. Justice Department, United Airlines Inc., based in Chicago, refused to credit the pilot for his leave, even as it extended this benefit and leave time to other workers. This was in direct violation of the USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

The measure was passed specifically with the goal of making sure members of the military aren’t returning from active duty to civilian life to find they have been deprived of certain employment benefits.  Continue Reading ›

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Last year, after 21 construction workers on site for five months at a new 79-unit apartment complex in downtown Berkeley were denied payments for five full months of work, local trade unions filed complaints with the state and local joint task forces. An investigation prompted the state labor commissioner to impose a contractor lien for $60,000, which was the outstanding balance of what workers were owed months later, long after the job ended.constructionworkers

That turned out to mean those workers were actually paid – albeit late – for the work they did. However, as Next City reports, that is pretty minuscule compared to the scope of the bigger issue, which is unscrupulous contractors committing California wage theft.

Construction workers in particular are the second-most vulnerable labor pool when it comes to wage theft violations in California, just behind restaurant workers. The problem is vastly under-reported. Only a fraction of wage theft violations result in claims and judgments and a smaller number of those judgments are actually paid. It’s important that attorneys taking on these cases first help victimized workers explore the viability of the claim before pursuing it. Continue Reading ›

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