In May 2005, two separate class actions: one concerning hourly employees – mostly food prep workers, cleaning staff and counter workers and the other concerning restaurant managers, representing 6,400 current and former employees were filed against Boston Market restaurants for allegedly violating California wage and hour laws.
The first suit claimed that 6,315 hourly workers often worked through meal and rest periods, did off-the-clock work and were not paid overtime. The second class complained that 122 managers were incorrectly classified as exempt from overtime pay.
On October 11 this year, U.S. District Court Judge Barry T. Moskowitz in San Diego approved a ruling for a class action settlement with Boston Market paying a total of $3.75 million, with individual general managers receiving up to $6,680 in back pay. In addition, the settlement stipulated that managers' positions would be reclassified to nonexempt status on Dec. 31, making them eligible for overtime. Some hourly workers will receive as much as $2,800.
Boston Market also agreed to change its time-keeping and payrolls systems so that when hourly workers do not get meal breaks, they will automatically be paid for an hour of pay on their next paycheck.
Boston Market, which is based in Golden, Colorado, operates 116 of its 640 restaurants in California and employs mostly Latino.