Chipotle Chain Cheats Workers say Nearly 10,000 Employees

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Chipotle is making headlines again and not in a good way. Nearly 10,000 current and former employees are suing the chain for wage theft, claiming that the company made them work extra hours without pay, according to numerous media reports including CNN Money.

For Southern California Chipotle restaurants this could add up to trouble. The popular restaurant chain has stores in just about every Orange County city, including San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Aliso Viejo and San Clemente.

Released this afternoon, the build your own burrito place offered a few family style freebies to encourage those with kids to come in. College students with valid ID can receive a free drink, while parents can get one children's item free with the purchase of an adult entree, according to the chain.

"It's back to school time and students — particularly high school and college students — have always been such loyal customers, so we thought a promotion directed specifically to them would be a great way to help them ring in a new school year," a Chipotle spokesman said ina CNBC report.

The class action lawsuit claims, "Chipotle routinely requires hourly-paid restaurant employees to punch out, and then continue working until they are given permission to leave."

Felipe Ricardo told CNN Money that he worked at a Chipotle in Danbury, Conn., in the summer of 2016. He said although the schedule said his shift ended at 11:30 p.m., it was "almost impossible" to get out on time and he worked until 1 a.m. without extra pay.

This is the first class action lawsuit against the company for wage theft, according to lawyer Kent Williams of Williams Law Firm, who is representing the employees in the suit, Turner v. Chipotle, which was first filed two years ago and has since been joined by the thousands of workers.

In a statement to Fortune, Chris Arnold, Chipotle's communications director, dismissed the lawsuit saying, “A lawsuit is nothing more than allegations and is proof of nothing. Since this suit was originally filed in 2014, we have maintained that it has no merit, and we will reserve our discussion of details for the legal proceedings.”

Chipotle made headlines last year and closed dozens of locations after a multi-state E. coli outbreak. The company said it conducted food and environmental testing in affected restaurants and tested food in its distribution center to correct the problem after dozens became ill after eating the restaurant's Mexican food.

Read the full CNN Money story here.
Read the full Fortune story here.
Image Google Map of Lake Forest Chipotle Restaurant, Screenshot