Sarah Markley  |  September 8, 2016

Category: Labor & Employment

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upset business teamA former manager for a Sears Home Appliance Showroom has filed an unpaid wages class action lawsuit on behalf of a class of managers who claim that they were not relieved for lunch or other breaks.

MarLu Franchise Group is the primary defendant in this unpaid wages class action lawsuit. They operate franchises in over 200 locations with brands such as Arby’s, TGI Fridays and Sears Home Appliance.

Plaintiff Richard Barajas worked at a Sears Home Appliance Showroom owned by MarLu and claims he was not allowed to leave his place of employment for a rest or a meal break because he was the only manager on duty.

He claims that only having one manager on duty is standard practice among the franchises in the MarLu group.

He said, “MarLu maintained a uniform policy of requiring that there be a manager employee serving as manager on duty in each facility at all times that it was operating.”

Barajas went on to say on behalf of other managers that “MarLu’s uniform policy mandates that the employee serving as the [manager on duty] cannot leave the restaurant for a meal or rest break if he or she is the only manager employee on duty. This situation is very common because the labor budgets for each restaurant make it very difficult to pay the wages of more than one manager at a time.”

Unpaid Wages Class Action Lawsuit

Barajas is filing this punitive class action on behalf of more than 100 franchise managers across MarLu’s brands. The plaintiff alleges that MarLu shorted these managers on their wages, did not provide meal breaks and that they instituted an unfair mandatory payroll card program at the Jack in the Box franchises it owns.

All of the defendants in this unpaid wages class action lawsuit are owned by three California residents: Anton Lutfi, Nader Lutfi and Stephen Lutfi. The franchises are managed out of a single office, according to the unpaid wages class action lawsuit. 

Barajas alleges that these three individuals intentionally hid the legal name of the actual employers.

The unpaid wages class action lawsuit claims, “Each defendant has acted deliberately to conceal from employees the name of the legal entity that is the employer of the individuals who work at the restaurants owned and operated by defendants.”

Every time that a manager worked longer than five hours as the only manager on duty in any of the franchise locations, MarLu failed to relieve that manager for a meal break, the unpaid wages class action lawsuit alleges. This violates California Labor Code.

Seven causes of action are raised in this class action lawsuit including failure to provide meal breaks, failure to pay wages, failure to pay wages upon termination, mandatory enforcement of a payroll card program, failure to provide suitable seats and violation of business and professions.

The plaintiffs are asking for civil penalties, restitution of wages, attorney’s fees and permanent injunctive relief against MarLu’s alleged California Labor Code violations. They are also asking MarLu to pay back any money earned through alleged ill-gotten gains.

The Unpaid Wages Class Action Lawsuit is Richard Barajas et al. v. MarLu Investment Group et al., Case No: BC630452, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

UPDATE: The Marlu Restaurant Group Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim.

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