S.D.N.Y. Grants Nationwide Class Certification Against Chipotle
On June 20, 2013, the U.S. District Court (S.D.N.Y.) received oral arguments on behalf of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (“Defendant”) and its Apprentice/Assistant Manager employees (“Plaintiffs”) located in eight states regarding a motion for Conditional Certification of a Collective Action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The S.D.N.Y. granted the employees motion for Certification of Collective Action against Chipotle and authorized notice of the Collective Action to be distributed to a nation-wide class (except for those employees located in California) of prospective Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs are seeking to recover overtime compensation as required by the FLSA and other lost wages as required by the New York Labor Law (NYLL) and Missouri Labor Law (MLL).
Chipotle is a chain of Mexican style restaurants known for its’ natural ingredients and assembly line production and as of 2011, operated 1,350 restaurants, employed 2,570 salaried employees and 28,370 hourly employees. In 2011 alone, Chipotle earned approximately $2.27 billion dollars in revenue. The Plaintiffs are listed as exempt and qualifying for executive status according to Chipotle, thus affecting their ability to collect overtime and other wages. However the Plaintiffs are required to do a substantial amount of work on the assembly line, operating the cash register, grilling and preparing items for the line. These are the duties ordinarily performed by hourly non-exempt employees and thus the Plaintiffs argue that they should be classified as non-exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA, NYLL and the MLL. Based upon the belief that Chipotle applies this same compensation and employment policy to Chipotle Apprentices and Assistant Managers nationwide, the Plaintiffs brought this motion for Certification of Collective Action to remedy the violations that may occur elsewhere.
Chipotle had made an argument to U.S. District Court Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. to deny the Plaintiffs class certification based upon the belief that the Plaintiffs could not identify an illegal policy or plan with class wide impact. However Judge Carter rejected Chipotle’s argument and granted the bid on behalf of the Plaintiffs for conditional certification. Furthermore Judge Cater authorized notice of their lawsuit to a nationwide class of potential plaintiffs (excluding California where Apprentices are paid hourly) who worked as Chipotle apprentices over the past three years. Judge Carter’s order gave Chipotle and the Plaintiffs until June 24, to file a revised version of the notice that will go out to potential opt-in Plaintiffs that incorporates modifications made by the court.
If you would like to learn more about this lawsuit or if you are an Apprentice and/or Assistant Manager at Chipotle and would like to opt-in to this Collective Action, contact Fitapelli & Schaffer at (212)300-0375. The NYC Employment Lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer have successfully represented many restaurant, club and bar workers for unpaid wages including Minimum Wage, Overtime and Tips.