Operations

Judge requiring Panera franchisee to pay $4.6M to managers

June 3, 2020

Panera Bread's largest franchisee, Covelli Enterprises, must pay $4.6 million to more than 900 assistant managers who alleged Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio overtime violations.

Federal Judge James S. Gwin heard the case May 29 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Covelli owns and operates more than 300 Panera locations in eight states.

Filed in 2018, the lawsuit accused Covelli of misclassifying Panera assistant managers as exempt from FLSA and Ohio overtime rules and later reclassified them as non-exempt.

Neither Panera Bread nor Covelli have responded to FastCasual's requests for comment,