Fired workers sue Chipotle for back pay

[marmar]

from the MSP City Pages:




Fired workers sue Chipotle for back pay
By Nick Pinto, Fri., Feb. 4 2011 @ 10:30AM


​Two of the workers abruptly fired by Chipotle last year in the wake of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement audit have now filed a class-action lawsuit against the restaurant chain, alleging that Chipotle failed to pay them their remaining salary in a timely way.

The suit was filed yesterday in Hennepin District Court by Tanya Cortes and Alejandro Juarez, two employees fired December 13 from the Excelsior Boulevard restaurant. Juarez had been working for Chipotle for five years, Cortes for six.

The next day, their complaint alleges, Cortes and Juarez asked in writing for the wages they were still owed. Minnesota law requires that fired workers be paid their outstanding wages within 24 hours. But according to the complaint, Chipotle didn't settle up with Cortes and Juarez for more than a week.

While Cortes and Juarez are the only two plaintiffs named in the suit, they claim there may be as many as 50 other fired Chipotle workers in the same boat. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2011/02/fired_workers_s.php

[Zax2me]

1. Oh no!

I love Chipotle...

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

2. Did they get the back pay? The article seems to sy they got it about a week later...

[Dominic]

4. Suit

It reads like they got payed, just not as quickly as the law requires. Were they here legally? This sounds more like a lawyer trying to cash in than a real damage against the fired workers.

[pampango]

3. More bad news for Chipotle: "Immigration probe of Chipotle widens"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-chipotle-idUSTRE7135O420110204

Upscale burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc faces a wider probe of its hiring by immigration officials, after the company came under scrutiny in Minnesota and had to fire workers. Chipotle has received U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "notices of inspection" for restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, co-Chief Executive Monty Moran told Reuters on Friday.

The new notices follow ICE inspections of the restaurant chain's Minnesota employees. Labor leaders say as many as 700 Chipotle workers were subsequently fired after their eligibility for legal employment in the United States could not be verified.

Chipotle, a Wall Street darling whose shares have gone from under $40 to over $240 in just over two years, is one of the highest-profile companies to come under ICE scrutiny in what experts call a crackdown on employers.

Under President Barack Obama, immigration enforcement strategy has shifted to finding evidence to criminally charge or fine employers. ICE previously conducted large-scale raids that netted large numbers of employees, many from Mexico and Central America.