Chipotle Food Chain Allegedly Violated the Fair Labor Standards Act

DENVER – Bachus & Schanker is part of a U.S. legal team working with individuals in Colorado and Minnesota to bring legal suit against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. Labor Law Attorney Karen O’Connor is serving as the lead counsel for Bachus & Schanker in this matter.

The plaintiffs, who currently or previously worked for Chipotle, allege the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act when it intentionally underpaid night-shift staff to meet corporate labor budgets. They claim Chipotle has an unwritten policy to not pay its hourly employees for all time worked, and to encourage general managers to require off-the-clock work.

Five of the plaintiffs submitted declarations claiming that general managers were rewarded if they met payroll budgets and threatened with termination if they did not.  Consequently, to keep labor costs down, employees were required to punch out before they finished working, resulting in non-payment of regular wages or overtime wages.

The six plaintiffs in these three lawsuits reside in Colorado and Minnesota, and are represented by Karen O’Connor of Bachus & Schanker, Adam S. Levy of the Law Office of Adam S. Levy, LLC and/or Kent M. Williams of the Williams Law Firm. The group decided to collaborate when Williams noted that all were alleging the same abuse of Fair Labor Standards Act.

O’Connor hopes these lawsuits will send a real message to the food industry.

“People working in minimum wage jobs and struggling to get by should be paid for the hours they put in,” she said. “Fast food workers who have been automatically punched off the clock , or who have been required to work ‘off the clock,’ without being paid their hourly wage need to know that they have rights.”

About Bachus & Schanker, LLC
Bachus & Schanker, LLC is a nationally recognized Denver law firm with a robust employment law practice and additional offices in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, Colo. In addition to employment law, Bachus & Schanker is a well respected personal injury firm specializing in serious personal injury and death litigation, workers’ compensation, nursing home neglect/abuse, national defective product and medical device litigation and Social Security disability insurance.

With a staff of more than 70 people, including 20 trial lawyers, Bachus & Schanker has represented thousands of clients across the country. Bachus & Schanker is committed to protecting and enforcing the rights of people injured by the negligence of others, offering to each client a level of representation and personal attention usually reserved for only the most powerful corporations. The firm supports local nonprofits through its Bachus & Schanker Cares Foundation. Visit Bachus & Schanker at http://www.coloradolaw.net/ to learn more.