Settlement Filed in Class Action Brought on Behalf of Chateau Restaurant Hourly Managers

The parties to the class action brought against the Chateau Restaurant Corp., which alleged that the restaurant failed to pay hourly managers for meal breaks during which they were not allowed to leave the restaurant, have filed a class action settlement with the court. If approved, the settlement will establish a $200,000 settlement fund to pay class members, and attorneys’ fees and costs. Notice has now been sent to all class members. The court will hold a hearing on September 15, 2016 on the settlement. Elizabeth Ryan of Bailey Glasser’s Boston office, and Nicholas Ortiz of the Law Office of Nicholas F. Ortiz represent the plaintiff and settlement class. A copy of the notice is available here.

Earlier this year, on January 4, 2016, Superior Court Judge Bruce Henry entered an order denying Chateau’s motion to dismiss the suit which named all the Chateau locations. The court found that the individual restaurants and the chain were so integrated with one another that all could be liable as a single integrated employer, despite being nominally separate business entities. The court’s ruling was the first time a Massachusetts state court adopted the “single integrated employer” theory. A copy of that order is available here.

The case is Fitzgerald v. The Chateau Restaurant Corp., Case No. 14-01990-J (Middlesex Superior Court).