Judge Certifies Multi-State Collective Action on Behalf of Charter Foods’ Assistant Managers
Assistant Managers (“AMs”) at fast food restaurants operated by Charter Foods today received conditional certification of a collective action in order to recover unpaid overtime for working more than 40 hours in a workweek. The judge overseeing the case found there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they were similarly situated and could proceed with sending notice of the lawsuit to approximately 900 other AMs to permit them to join the case. The AMs allege that Charter Foods violated federal law by misclassifying them as exempt from overtime compensation. (The position has since been re-classified as non-exempt and individuals are entitled to receive overtime compensation.). The lawsuit asserts that, between January 10, 2017 and January 1, 2020, AMs were required to work more than 40 hours a week and spent the majority of their time serving customers, ringing customers up on the cash register, preparing food, working the drive-thru, stocking, counting inventory, and cleaning the restaurant. Charter Foods owns and operates more than 300 “Taco Bell,” “KFC,” “Pizza Hut,” “Long John Silver’s,” and “A&W” restaurants in 12 states. AMs who worked for Charter Foods and are eligible to join the case will soon receive notice of the lawsuit. A copy of the judge’s decision can be found here and media coverage can be found here.
If you worked for Charter Foods as an AM at any time between January 10, 2017 and January 1, 2020 and were classified as exempt from overtime (and received a salary), you may be eligible to join the case. If you would like more information , please call Conway Legal at (215) 278-4782.