A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that fast food giant Burger King must face a lawsuit accusing it of restricting worker mobility and suppressing wages at its nationwide franchise restaurants.
U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez in Miami ruled that the workers in the proposed class action had provided sufficient factual support to allow their lawsuit to move forward for now.
The agreements generally barred one franchise from hiring a worker from another for at least six months. Attorneys for the workers and Burger King did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Burger King denies any wrongdoing.
Court papers show that current and former Burger King Employees, who have worked at restaurants in Illinois and other states since at least 2010, filed the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status and unspecified monetary damages on behalf of thousands of Burger King Workers through the lawsuit.
“In a properly functioning and lawfully competitive labor market, Burger King and its franchisees would compete for labor,” the lawsuit said.
Burger King argued for the lawsuit's dismissal, claiming the workers failed to prove that the no-poach agreement suppressed wages. However, Martinez ruled that the workers had plausibly demonstrated the no-hire agreement imposed an “unreasonable” restraint on the labor market.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected McDonald’s bid to shut down a similar proposed class action, which claimed the company violated antitrust laws by preventing franchisees from poaching employees from other McDonald’s locations.
The plaintiffs, represented by Joseph Meltzer of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check and Richard McCune of McCune Wright Arevalo, filed the case “Jarvis Arrington et al v. Burger King Worldwide et al” in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No. 1:18-cv-24128-JEM.
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