New York City sued fast food restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill for allegedly violating a labor law that requires employees to have their work hours in advance and be compensated if it changes for any reason.
The lawsuit alleges that Chipotle violated New York City's Fair Work Week Law, which took effect in November 2017.
Hundreds of employees at dozens of
Chipotle
restaurants
in Brooklyn and Manhattan have filed complaints with the Department of Protection. to the Consumer and the Worker.
The state's attorney's office says
employees are owed more than $ 150 million
in compensation for violations, but if penalties are imposed on the food chain, that amount could be much higher.
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State authorities allege that Chipotle failed to provide its employees with work schedule forecasts
two weeks in advance
.
The company reportedly also did not obtain consent from the workers to make last-minute changes to the schedule or ask the workers to open the store the day after it was closed.
They also allege that the company did not compensate them for those changes in the schedule.
People wait outside a Chipotle restaurant in Pennsylvania on March 15, 2021.AP
The New York Department of Labor and Consumer Protection had already filed a lawsuit for this very reason in 2019. At the time, the agency demanded at least $ 1 million in restitution for employees.
After completing its investigation, the prosecution has not only extended the penalties but also assures that the chain committed "hundreds of thousands of violations in dozens of locations."
"Since we first presented our case against Chipotle, we have unfortunately learned that those initial charges were only the tip of the iceberg
," Department Commissioner Lorelei Salas said in a statement.
The company owns most of the restaurants in the city
, unlike many other fast food chains that operate under a franchise model.
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"Regarding the Fair Work Week Act, Chipotle has been working cooperatively with the city to ensure that we have systems and processes in place to comply with the law, so we believe the filing of charges was unnecessary," Laurie said Schalow, Chipotle's director of public relations.
"Regardless, we will continue to cooperate with the city and are addressing any past non-compliance concerns," it added in a statement.
Despite previous lawsuits in New York and other states, Chipotle's shares on the stock market have risen sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, after it reached
sales of as much as $ 6 billion
last year.
With information from The New York Times.