LOS ANGELES — Employees working for Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants in California have settled a class action wage and overtime lawsuit. The $1.7 million settlement gained approval from a California federal judge recently. The settlement is intended to resolve the employees’ claims that Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants failed to provide rest and meal breaks and failed to pay overtime wages when employees worked more than 40 hours a week in violation of state labor laws.
Restaurant Workers’ Claims
Ruben Sanchez, the class representative, filed the lawsuit in December 2012. In his claim, Sanchez alleged that the employees at Chinois in Santa Monica, Spago Beverly Hills, and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in Los Angeles were subject to wage and hour violations under California law. The nonexempt employees were allegedly denied state mandated meal and rest breaks. Frequently, when employees are denied meal and rest breaks it results in the employees working longer than their scheduled shifts without receiving credit for their extra work. If an employer does not allow the employee to take these breaks, but still records the breaks as time not worked, the employees are often denied overtime wages.
The Settlement
Almost 900 current and former Wolfgang Puck restaurant employees have joined the class action. The class members are entitled to share in the $1.7 million settlement. It is not required that the class members accept their share of the settlement offer. One of the many reasons why class members who join a class or collective action are not required to accept and cash settlement awards is because accepting the award generally requires the class member to release, or give up, any claims associated with the lawsuit they have against the company.
Since it is not required that a class member accept their award money, the parties have included provisions for unclaimed settlement awards, as is the case with many class actions. If the unclaimed awards total at least $10,000, the class members who cashed their payouts within a set time period will share in the unclaimed amount. If, however, the amount is less than $10,000, the money will go to the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice. Regardless, the settlement amount will not return to the company. And the settlement provides that the restaurant company will pay $10,000 to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
If your employer provides meal and rest breaks, but does not allow you to use them and fails to pay you for the work you perform instead of taking a break, you may have a claim for unpaid overtime wages. You have a limited amount of time to file your wage and overtime claim, so contact our team of overtime pay lawyers today! Our top-rated legal team can be reached at (855) 754-2795 or through our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.