Chipotle Class Action Lawsuit: 9,000+ Claim Chain Cheats Workers Out of Wages

CANTON, CT — Chipotle is making headlines again, but this time it's not for foodborne illnesses or an unsanitary work environment.

Chipotle closed dozens of locations last October 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

Current and former Chipotle employees are now suing the chain for wage theft, claiming that the company made them work extra hours without paying them.

Former employee Felipe Ricardo told CNN Money that he worked at a Chipotle in Danbury 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 worked until 1 a.m. He, along with more than 9,000 other workers, said they never got paid extra hours they worked off the clock.

New York Post reported in March that Chipotle has been hit with 115 federal employee lawsuits over the last five years, three times the rate of two of Panera Bread and Starbucks.

This is the first large class action lawsuit against the company for wage theft, according to lawyer Kent Williams of Williams Law Firm, who is representing the employees in Turner v. Chipotle.

Written by Wendy Ann Mitchell (Patch Staff)

Photo credit: Mike Mozart via Flickr Creative Commons