Cracker Barrel Associate Manager Files Overtime Class Action

An associate manager for a Cracker Barrel restaurant has filed a class action lawsuit claiming overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law.   The Complaint, which was filed in federal court in the Northern District of New York, alleges that the restaurant chain failed to pay its associate managers overtime for hours worked over 40 per week and that the associate managers were required to use their personal cars to travel between the stores to pick up supplies without reimbursement for gas. Lawyers for the associate managers claim that they were paid a salary and are entitled to overtime pay because the associate managers did not have authority to assign work or fire/hire employees, instead their duties include running cash registers, seating customers, bussing tables, waiting tables, working on the cooking line, preparing side dishes, and helping deliver meals. The lawsuit seeks to recover unpaid overtime pay and unlawful deductions for current and former associate managers at Cracker Barrel restaurants throughout the nation.