DETROIT, Jan. 24, 2016 -- A lawsuit has been filed against a Michigan Taco Bell franchisor by several of its Michigan employees for multiple violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at several of its retail outlets in the Detroit area. The collective action complaint, filed here in U.S. District Court, names the Brighton-based Sundance, Inc. as defendant. Sundance, Inc. operates over 170 Taco Bell restaurants in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio. According to the complaint, Sundance doesn't compensate employees of its Taco Bell outlets for all hours worked in a given week nor for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. The lawsuit also alleges that salaried general managers and assistant managers were misclassified as exempt employees and not paid for their overtime, even though they didn't have the managerial authority or responsibility to meet exemptions from overtime pay set forth in the FLSA. "The defendant regularly shifted the hours worked by its employees in one week over to the following week so that time records wouldn't show when they worked more than 40 hours in a given week," said co-counsel Megan Bonanni of Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers in Royal Oak. Bonanni also noted that the practice of shifting hours and misclassifying workers to avoid paying them full wages is widespread among Taco Bell franchises and throughout the fast food industry. "Numerous lawsuits citing similar violations of the FLSA have been filed against Taco Bell franchises throughout the country going back 15 years or more. Wage theft seems to be a standard operating procedure at many Taco Bell outlets," said Bonanni. You can read the entire news release here. You can view the complaint here.
MLive, WNEM, Fox 66 Cover Summer Release of Pitt Client Juvenile Lifer Henry Hill
From MLive
SAGINAW, MI -- It was the day Henry Hill Jr.'s sister had been holding out hope 35 years for, and it didn't matter that she lived more than 1,500 away or that she had work; she'd be there.
"This is the day I've been waiting for, for...
Jennifer Lord Talks UIA on WJR Guy Gordon Show
Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers attorney Jennifer Lord was featured on WJR Radio's Guy Gordon show to discuss the latest developments in the Michigan UIA Fraud case.
Listen to the entire interview here
Renowned Attorney Morris Dees Honored by MCHR
Cary McGehee presents Champion of Justice Award to Morris Dees at MCHR annual dinner.[/caption] The Michigan Coalition for Human Rights (MCHR) recognized the lifetime efforts of iconic civil rights attorney Morris Dees at its recent annual dinner...
Detroit News Talks to Lord In Coverage of Botched UIA Cases
From the Detroit News - May 3, 2017
Lansing — The agency overseeing Michigan’s unemployment program said Wednesday that the number of botched fraud cases has risen by about a third after further review.
The Michigan Unemployment Insurance...
Channing Robinson-Holmes Joins Firm as Attorney
Channing Robinson began working as a law clerk at the firm in October 2015 while she was still in law school. Since that time, she has devoted innumerable hours to the firm’s class actions against Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency, as...
UIA Fraud Class-Action Continues to Gain Steam
In September 2015, firm attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit against the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA). The complaint alleges that the automated system used for adjudicating unemployment insurance fraud, falsely accused as...
Flint WJRT TV, Saginaw WEYI and WNEM Cover PMPR Led Flint Water Meeting
FLINT, Michigan (WJRT) - (04/24/17) - A Flint mom --whose baby was born premature -- is among those searching for answers about the lawsuits and the future of the Flint Water Crisis.
Monday night we heard from attorneys who are working on...
PMP&R Host Flint Water Community Information Meeting
On April 24, 2017, the Flint Water Class Action Legal Team held an informational meeting for the Flint community at Greater Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Flint. Throughout the night, Flint residents and other attendees spoke with...
Lord Cited by WXYZ 7 and Detroit Free Press in Spranger Ethics Hearing Coverage
April 19, 2017
Both the Detroit Free Press and WXYZ 7 continued coverage reporting on a former top aide to embattled Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds Karen Spranger, who told a county ethics board today that he has heard her refer to her...
Free Press Details Macomb County Whistleblower Suit with Lord
From the Detroit Free Press
Two fired deputies of Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds Karen Spranger say they witnessed a pattern of incompetent, unethical and unlawful behavior that left the clerk's office "on the brink of collapse," according...
Lord Cited in WZZM 13 Story as Michigan UIA Reassigns Two Dozen Managers
LANSING, MICH. - Leaders at the embattled Unemployment Insurance Agency in Michigan announced Wednesday they are reassigning close to two dozen managers to try to improve customer service in the field.
The state's Talent Investment Agency oversees...
NewsChannel 3 Discusses UIA Fraud with Lord
MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Michigan lawmakers are working to figure out how tens of thousands of people on unemployment across Michigan were wrongly accused of fraud.
On Monday the House Oversight Committee announced it had created a work group...
Pitt Awarded Distinguished Service Award by State Bar
From Detroit Legal News
Michael Pitt has been selected for the 2017 Distinguished Service Award by the State Bar of Michigan's Labor & Employment Section. Pitt is co-founding partner of Royal Oak-based Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers, one of...
The Bridge Looks at UIA Fraud and Cites Lord
From the Bridge - the Center for Michigan
February 7, 2917
A few days after a federal judge issued a Jan. 11 order commanding the state to “suspend all collection activity” against thousands of Michigan workers tagged with unemployment fraud,...
McGehee Tells Detroit News She Will Appeal Flint Suit Dismissal
Detroit News - February 3, 2017
A federal judge has dismissed a major class-action lawsuit from Flint residents over how the state handled changes in the city's water.
U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara dismissed the case involving Flint...
Pitt Featured in Huffington Post Coverage of Flint EPA Suit
Mary Papenfuss Trends reporter, The Huffington Post
More than 1,700 residents of Flint, Michigan, have filed a class action lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, accusing officials of “negligent” mismanagement of the city’s...
Detroit News Covers Pitt Led Flint Suit Against EPA
More than 1,700 Flint-area residents and property owners have filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the “mishandling” of the city’s water crisis in a legal action seeking more than $722.4 million in damages.
The...
Bonanni Featured in Metro Times/Free Press Taco Bell Suit Story
Update: Coverage from the Detroit Free Press
A Livingston County company used various policies to avoid paying employees for time worked, a federal lawsuit alleges.
A complaint filed in U.S District Court in Detroit claims Brighton-based Sundance...
Detroit News/Free Press Discuss Lack of UIA Resolution with PMP&R's Lord
From the Detroit Free Press
January 9, 2017
Although it did not come online until 2013, the State of Michigan used an error-prone computer system that has wrongly accused tens of thousands of people of unemployment insurance fraud to assess...