A class action lawsuit filed against California-based quick service restaurant Del Taco has resulted in a $50 million settlement. The settlement will be paid by Jack in the Box, as the company acquired Del Taco earlier this year. Jack in the Box has stated that it was aware of the allegations against Del Taco as it moved through the acquisition process and that the amount of the settlement is “within the anticipated range.” In the same breath that it used to address a settlement over the fact that its employees had not been paid their earned wages for a period of approximately 10 years, the company also assured investors that its acquisition of Del Taco would have a “minimal impact” on its reported earnings per share. The lawsuit covered employees who had worked for Del Taco from 2012 to 2021.
Recent analyses show that American workers lose more every year to wage theft in this country than American companies do to shoplifting. Some $17 billion in wages goes unpaid to workers as employers find ways to bilk them of the wages they’ve earned to support themselves and their families. In some of the worst states for wage theft in the country, the average wage theft victim will lose upward of 30% of his or her annual earnings to an employer that believes they are more entitled to their workers’ earnings than the workers themselves.
Wage theft can take many forms and, in some cases, workers don’t even know they’ve been victimized by their employers. While failure to pay minimum wage is the most obvious form of wage theft, workers are frequently asked to contribute time off the clock; whether its standing in line waiting for a security screening trying to leave a warehouse or a restaurant worker asked to take care of one more table after clocking out for the night.
More information on wage theft, including a look at its various forms, can be found here.
