Chipotle Mexican Grill has reportedly become the first fast-food chain to disclose the ingredients it uses that contain genetically modified (GM) organisms. The list of items containing GM ingredients is currently available only on the company’s website and includes barbacoa beef, chicken, fajita vegetables, brown and white rice, steak, and tortillas. According to its website, the company’s “goal is to eliminate [genetically modified organisms] GMOs from Chipotle’s ingredients, and we’re working hard to meet this challenge. For example, we recently switched our fryers from soybean oil to sunflower oil. Soybean oil is almost always made from genetically modified soybeans, while there is no commercially available GMO sunflower oil. Where our food contains currently unavoidable GM ingredients, it is only in the form of corn or soy.” See BloombergBusinessWeek.com, June 18, 2013; Chipotle.com.
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A California resident who worked at a TGI Fridays in Los Angeles has filed a putative class action on behalf of a statewide class of current and former nonexempt employees, alleging that the restaurant failed to pay them (i) when they showed up for their shifts but were told to go home due to light customer traffic, (ii) for the time they spent in mandatory meetings, and (iii) all the wages and other compensation due upon their discharge, termination or separation “either timely or fully.” Portillo v. TGI Fridays, Inc., No. BC12119 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed June 14, 2013). Alleging causes of action for failure to pay reporting time, waiting time damages, and unfair, unlawful or deceptive business practices, the plaintiff seeks compensatory and liquidated damages, interest, injunctive relief, attorney’s fees, and costs.
Women who worked at celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s Los Angeles restaurant, The Fat Cow, have filed a putative class action on behalf of all nonexempt employees against the restaurant and his company, alleging they were denied meal and rest breaks, were not compensated for the missed breaks, were not compensated for overtime, were not paid minimum wage, were not provided with timely and accurate wage-and-hour statements, did not promptly receive accrued wages when they left the job, and did not receive all of the gratuities contributed to a tip pool, which they claim the defendants improperly converted. Becerra v. The Fat Cow LLC, No. BC511953 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed June 13, 2013). The named plaintiffs include two former hostesses, a server and a barista. They seek economic damages, injunctive relief, restitution, the imposition of civil penalties, punitive damages, interest, attorney’s fees, and costs.
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has granted the defendants’ motion for centralization in litigation involving allegations that Subway Sandwich Shops, Inc., and Doctor’s Associates, Inc., “engaged in a false or misleading advertising campaign regarding the size of the Subway Footlong sandwich.” In Re: Subway Footlong Sandwich Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 2439 (JPML, decided June 10, 2013). According to the order, the seven actions addressed by JPML involve common factual questions, with plaintiffs alleging “that defendants have uniform standards and practices with respect to the manufacturing process and franchisee training which result in the actual length of the sandwich being materially shorter than advertised in violation of state consumer protection laws.” JPML has therefore chosen to centralize the actions in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which provides “a geographically central forum for this nationwide litigation, and will be convenient and accessible for…
The American Public Health Association’s 141st annual meeting and exposition is slated for November 2-6, 2013, in Boston, Massachusetts. Expected to attract more than 13,000 physicians, researchers, epidemiologists, and related health specialists, and featuring a myriad of presentations, the meeting will include a session on “Regulating for the Public’s Health: Food and Beverages, Drugs, and Emerging Technologies.” Among the presentations during this session are the legal considerations of antibiotics in food animals, focusing on a court order requiring that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) complete proceedings to withdraw approval of certain antibiotics (presented by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention senior attorney Heather Horton), and “Legal strategies to increase funding and improve the FDA’s authority over food labeling violations and questionable claims” (presented by Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity attorney Jennifer Pomeranz). Pomeranz contends that FDA lacks sufficient authority and funding to address misbranded food products and “[t]he…
Chef Kyle Connaughton, who has “been employed by some of the most prestigious restaurants in the world,” co-authored books and co presented on United Kingdom (U.K.) TV programs, has sued Chipotle Mexican Grill and its CEO, claiming that he was hired to developed a ramen-noodle fast-food restaurant concept that was doomed to fail because someone else had already created the concept in the context of a confidential business deal with Chipotle that did not come to fruition. Connaughton v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 155106/2013 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty., filed June 3, 2013). Connaughton allegedly developed the business plan and concept from 2010-2012 in close collaboration with Chipotle employees. Connaughton later learned on meeting with Momofuku’s Noodle Bar chief marketing officer that Momofuku would sue Chipotle when its ramen restaurant opened because owner David Chang had developed the same concept for Chipotle in 2008. Because Chang could not come to terms…
Class representatives in litigation against Papa John’s International have filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement in a case involving claims that the company’s franchisees sent unlawful commercial text messages through OnTime4U to some 220,000 individuals without their express consent. Agne v. Papa John’s Int’l, Inc., No. 10-1139 (W.D. Wash., filed May 17, 2013). Details about the court’s grant of class certification appear in Issue 463 of this Update. Under the proposed agreement, class members who are provided notice will automatically receive a merchandise certificate for a free Papa John’s pizza—a $13 retail value with a collective value of $2.86 million. Class members who submit claims and whose phone numbers are verified will also receive $50 each at an aggregate value of $11 million. Attorney’s fees and costs will add $2.45 million to the settlement fund, and $25,000 in incentives for the named plaintiffs will…
A YUM! Brands shareholder has brought a derivative action on behalf of the company against its officers and directors in a federal court in Kentucky, alleging they inflated the company’s growth predictions and failed to promptly inform shareholders that the company purchased chicken with allegedly excessive levels of antibiotics and toxic chemicals for sale in KFC establishments in China; according to the complaint, once the information became public, business in China and the company’s share price plummeted, while the defendants “profited handsomely” from “dumping more than $64.6 million of personally held common stock during the Relevant Period.” Zona v. Novak, No. 13 506 (W.D. Ky., filed May 21, 2013). Alleging breach of fiduciary duty, insider selling and misappropriation of information, and unjust enrichment, the plaintiff seeks damages, injunctive relief, disgorgement, attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses. She claims that management knew as early as 2009 that the chicken purchased in China was tainted…
Three recent studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine have analyzed the nutritional content of restaurant and processed foods, raising questions about consumer, industry and government efforts to curb calorie, sodium and fat consumption. Authored by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Executive Director Michael Jacobson and colleagues at George Washington University and Northwestern University, the first study examined changes in the sodium levels of identical processed and restaurant foods from 2005 to 2011. Michael Jacobson, et al., “Changes in Sodium Levels in Processed and Restaurant Foods, 2005 to 2011,” JAMA Internal Medicine, May 2013. Using data collected by CSPI, researchers reportedly found that “sodium content in 402 processed foods declined by approximately 3.5%, while the sodium content in 78 fast-food restaurant products increased by 2.6%.” Although the study also noted that salt content decreased by 30 percent in some products and increased by 30 percent in others, “the…
The plaintiffs in putative class litigation alleging inaccurate wage statements and denial of required meal breaks have filed a motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement brought against Starbucks in 2008. York v. Starbucks Corp., No. 08-7919 (C.D. Cal., W. Div., motion filed May 10, 2013). Without admitting liability, the company has apparently agreed to pay $3 million to resolve the claims of California Starbucks employees who fall into one or two subclasses: (i) the “Meal Break Settlement Subclass,” including “all persons employed by Starbucks within the state of California in the job categories of café attendant, barista, or shift supervisor during the period from December 2, 2004, to January 31, 2013”; and (ii) the “Wage Statement Settlement Subclass,” including “all persons employed by Starbucks in the state of California in the job categories of café attendant, barista, shift supervisor, assistant store manager, or store manager during the period…
