SAN FRANCISCO — A former employee for the country’s largest bagel and coffee restaurant chain recently filed an unpaid overtime lawsuit against his former employer on behalf of himself and others alleging the defendant committed wage theft by ignoring California wage and labor laws. The suit, filed in Santa Clara County California Superior court, seeks compensation for the employees’ back wages, including penalties for the defendant’s inability to provide its workers with an uninterrupted 30-minute meal break after five hours of work as mandated by California law.
The complaint alleges Einstein Noah Restaurant Group failed to pay employees all due wages when it neglected to include performance-based nondiscretionary incentive wages when calculating overtime for nonexempt employees. Under California law, these types of bonuses must be included when determining an employee’s average hourly wage, which is then multiplied one and a half times to determine overtime wages.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the defendant had no corporate practice to accommodate mandatory meal break periods every employee must receive after five hours on a shift. When employees cannot take an uninterrupted meal break in California, they must be compensated with an extra hour of regular pay to make up for the shortcoming.
California Overtime Pay Lawsuit Could Result in Substantial Compensation for Victims
According to the suit, the defendant also failed to provide workers with accurate wage statements accounting for all their hours worked and wages earned, a requirement under both state and federal wage laws. Often times, courts may impose injunctions on guilty parties to put new payroll procedures in place to guard against future wage theft and pay miscalculations.
The suit hopes to recover compensation not only for the named plaintiff but for any other similarly affected worker employed by Einstein’s within the last four years. With so many Einstein’s location in California and the length of the statute of limitations, the potential number of plaintiffs could be substantial and the possible payout quite high if the court sides with the workers’ case.
Restaurant Worker Unpaid Overtime Lawsuits
Call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page if you feel that your wage rights are being violated under the FLSA. Our top-rated team of unpaid wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action to help you seek justice.
Our office will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. Because strict time limitations apply for filing these types of claims, we advise you contact our experienced unpaid overtime wage attorneys at your earliest convenience and preserve your legal rights.