Taco Bell’s Motion to Toss Claims in Wage & Hour Lawsuit Denied

A California judge has denied Taco Bell Corp.’s motion to strike the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) allegations in a wage and hour lawsuit that accuses the fast-food company of not paying the minimum wage and overtime as well as denying workers of their meal and rest breaks.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone, however, has set a briefing schedule to determine which claims will be put together in a class action lawsuit and which shall proceed on an individual basis.

The judge ordered the lead plaintiff Lisa Hardiman to file a Second Amended Consolidated Complaint which should identify which claims plaintiffs are asserting on a class basis and which claims are asserted on an individual basis.

According to the ruling, Taco Bell’s “motion to strike is both untimely as well as improper in that it effectively seeks dismissal of plaintiff’s PAGA claims.”

The ruling stated that the defendant’s motion to strike is untimely because the rule required that such a motion be filed before responding to the pleading. “Defendants have already responded to the pleading and therefore any motion to strike is untimely,” the order said.

This unpaid overtime lawsuit goes back to September 2007 when two former Taco Bell employees, Sandrika Medlock and Lisa Hardiman, filed a proposed wage and hour class action lawsuit, alleging that the fast-food company did not pay for overtime, minimum wage and provide proper meal breaks.

Medlock is a former shift manager while Hardiman is a former crew member.

Last year, Taco Bell reached a $2.5 million settlement of a collective action after the company allegedly denied assistant general managers that were wrongly classified as supervisors their overtime pay.

The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by plaintiff Jacquelyn Ann Whittington on the behalf of other Taco Bell employees with the same job title as her. The wage and hour lawsuit settlement will provide an average payout of about $5,000 to the hundreds of assistant general managers who opted into the class action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew T. Theriault, Robert Friedl, Katherine Kehr and Jonathan Lee of Capstone Law APC.

The defendant is represented by Tracey A. Kennedy, Nora K. Stiles and Morgan P. Forsey of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

This wage and hour lawsuit is In re: Taco Bell Wage and Hour Actions, Case No. 1:07-cv-01314, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay in California within the past 2 to 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone. Learn more and obtain a free evaluation of your case to see if you’re eligible for back pay and other compensation at the Wage & Hour, Overtime Pay Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.