• Case Studies

• ADA Discrimination
• Misclassification (Enterprise)
• Misclassification (FedEx)
• Misclassification (RadioShack)
• Missed Meal and Rest Breaks (KFC)
• Missed Meal and Rest Breaks (Wal-Mart)
• Off-The-Clock Work
• On-Duty Meal Periods
• Gender Discrimination
• Tip Pooling

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Defendant On-Duty Meal Periods Case Study

California Restaurant Chain

Case Details

In this class action case, plaintiffs allege that a California restaurant chain improperly requires restaurant managers to take on-duty lunches. Plaintiffs claim that there is insufficient evidence that restaurant managers cannot leave their restaurants for at least 30 minutes to take their lunch breaks. We were retained by the restaurant chain to study the actual tasks and activities performed on the job by restaurant managers and given the tasks performed, whether there are 30-minute periods during a shift in which managers could theoretically leave the restaurant to take a lunch break.

Our Study

• Generated a list of all tasks and activities that managers perform on the job.
• Classified tasks into two categories: one where the manager could leave the store for at least 30 minutes and the other where the manager was required to be on duty.
• Conducted job observations and tracked the tasks managers performed during their shifts.
• Identified 30-minute time segments during the shift (if any) where a manager could theoretically leave the store.

Results

Study results showed that across the managers studied, only one manager could theoretically leave the store for one 30-minute segment, and this segment of time would be difficult to predict ahead of time. Dr. Banks wrote a report summarizing the results of the study. The case is still pending.