A longtime Subway franchise cashier has settled her lawsuit in which she alleged that she and other workers have been denied compensation for meal and rest breaks, overtime and business expenses.
Attorneys for lead plaintiff Deisy Villalta filed court papers on Friday notifying Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit Judge Maren that an accord has been reached with Lacren LLC and other entities, all with headquarters based in the same Anaheim location and which operate at least 26 Subway franchise locations. No terms were divulged.
Villalta has worked as a cashier since 2011 at a location on West Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, her suit stated. The case was originally filed as a proposed class-action made up of all of the non-exempt franchise employees who have been employed by the entities within the four years leading up to the filing of the lawsuit on March 29. The judge on June 27 denied a later request by Villalta’s lawyers to drop those claims filed on a class-wide basis as well as those brought under the California Private Attorney General Act of 2004.
Villalta and the other workers have such duties as opening and closing the kitchen, counting money in the cash register, making sandwiches and soup for patrons, taking out the trash and cleaning the location, according to the suit.
Understaffed shifts at the locations, combined with sudden influxes of customers, prevented many workers from taking their rest breaks on time or to miss them entirely, the suit alleged.
Villalta was required to work outside her shifts and take supplies to different locations and also to provide store keys to employees at their homes so they could unlock the locations when they arrived at work, according to the suit.
The workers also were not paid the correct amount of overtime and were not fully reimbursed for business expenses, according to the suit, which further stated that Villalta has not received a share of customer credit card tips since November 2020.