A jury at Multnomah County Circuit Court has found Taco Bell guilty of violating Oregon’s wage-and-hour laws. The Mexican fastfood subsidiary of Tricon Global Restaurants Inc has been ordered to pay back wages owed to 1,300 former workers in the state.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The workers had filed the class-action lawsuit with allegations that their time cards had been tampered with so as to make it look as if managers had met productivity deadlines, and would therefore be eligible for personal bonuses.
The workers’ lawyer Paul Breed, from law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, explained that this meant workers were not given the breaks required by law and forced to work off the clock. Throughout 1993-6, the Taco Bell restaurants owned by the company were found guilty of systematic abuse of workers.
The outlets managed by franchisees were not included in the lawsuit.
Taco Bell responded to the verdict commenting: “We believe that the evidence in this case did not provide a state-wide, systemic problem, but rather isolated incidents which occurred several years ago at some of our company-owned restaurants in Oregon.” Bob Weaver, the lawyer representing the restaurant, argued that there was no abuse and that when it received isolated complaints from workers it responded immediately.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataWeaver revealed that a judicial review of the verdict would be sought before the company embarks on an appeal.
The full details of the damages and penalties sought by the workers will be decided later this year, but Breed believes it could run into millions of dollars. When in 1997 a similar case was settled in Washington, over 2,100 former and current employees of the company were awarded nearly US$3m.
