Boston Market Assistant Managers’ Lawsuit For Overtime Pay Moves Forward

Assistant Managers at Boston Market restaurants in New York and Connecticut received conditional certification of a collective action and court authorization to send notice to current and former Assistant Managers.  The September 8, 2011 Decision of United States Judge Janet Hall permits Assistant Managers who worked at Boston Market restaurants in New York and New Jersey to join a lawsuit which claims that Boston Market erroneously categorized the position as exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Assistant Managers claim in the lawsuit that they spent most of their workday performing manual labor and customer service tasks, including cleaning ovens, mopping floors, cooking food, serving food, and cashiering.  The Assistant Managers contend that as they performed non-exempt duties, Boston Market unlawfully denied them overtime they were entitled to for working in excess of 40 hours in a week.  The complaint alleges that all of the Boston Market Assistant Managers around the country were subject to Boston Market’s common plan or practice of designating them as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA when in fact their work, as described and defined by their job description and required by Boston Market, is not exempt.