STRATEGIC PARTNERS
September 1, 2016
News that nearly 10,000 former Chipotle employees are involved in a 2-year-old class action suit against the beleaguered fast casual chain is creating another busy-but-not-in-a-good-way day for the communications team at the Mexican food chain.
The feature that set off the online chatter — reported by Michael Addady on CNN Money this week — has some of the most telling quotes we’ve seen about life for employees at the chain when it comes to compensation for hours worked.
The suit, which began in September 2014 with a complaint by Leah Turner, an employee who worked at a store in Colorado, now encompasses nearly 10,000 similar complaints from current and former Chipotle employees. Collectively, they are alleging that the chain’s management regularly made them work overtime without pay — much less overtime pay — which is a violation of U.S. federal wage laws.
"It's part of the job. You can't sue."
Moreover, the story on CNN said that of the 10,000 complainants, most claim that the alleged, forced uncompensated overtime was a systemic practice that managers at every restaurant enforced because they feared for their own jobs if they did not.
Another plaintiff in the suit, Araceli Gutierrez, said that top-performing stores were rewarded, and that part of performing well at Chipotle was to keep labor hours in check. Gutierrez told CNN Money that when she rose to a management role, she frequently got calls from those above her, saying that labor costs were high and that she should send some employees home or tell them to clock out.
Gutierrez told Addady that when she tried to speak up against that practice, she was told, "It's part of the job," and "You can't sue."
"A lawsuit is nothing more than allegations, and that a suit has been filed in no way means that we have done anything wrong.”
When contacted Thursday about the CNN story and other media reports on the suit, Chipotle Communications Director Chris Arnold defended his employer’s labor practices.
"This case isn’t new," he said in an email response. "It’s simply making its way through the legal process. It was initially brought in 2014. Since that time, we have maintained that we do not believe it has any merit, but we will reserve our discussion of details for the legal proceedings.
"I’d note, however, that we do a number of things for our employees that are uncommon in our industry. … We pay more than many others in the industry … [and] we also offer benefits that include paid vacations, paid sick time, tuition reimbursement, and a new partnership with Guild Education that allows eligible employees to earn a degree for as little as $250 per year.
"It may also be worth noting that Buzzfeed has reported that about 280,000 current and past employees were notified of this suit, with about 10,000 signing on (a response rate of only about 3.5 percent). A lawsuit is nothing more than allegations, and that a suit has been filed in no way means that we have done anything wrong.”
