NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN LAWSUIT AGAINST FOX RESTAURANT
VENTURE, LLC., FOX NC ACQUISITION, LLC, AND FOX SC ACQUISITION, LLC
d/b/a “JIMMY JOHNS®”
TO: All individuals who are currently or were formally employed as salaried assistant store managers at any Jimmy John’s ® Sandwich Shop owned by Fox Restaurant Ventures, LLC, Fox NC Acquisitions, LLC and/or Fox SC Acquisitions, LLC in the States of Indiana, North Carolina and/or South Carolina from August 7, 2015 through the present.
DATE: February 20, 2019
- INTRODUCTION
This notice is to inform you about the existence of a collective action lawsuit, which you may join, to advise you of how your rights may be affected by this lawsuit, to inform you how to participate, and to explain your obligations if you choose to participate. This is the only notice you will receive.
- DESCRIPTON OF THE LAWSUIT
The lawsuit listed below has been filed against FOX RESTAURANT VENTURE, LLC., FOX NC ACQUISITION, LLC, AND FOX SC ACQUISITION, LLC, d/b/a “JIMMY JOHN’S®,” (hereinafter, “Defendants”), by individuals who allege that during their employment with Defendants, as Assistant Store Managers, they were improperly paid on a salary basis, required to work over forty hours a week without being paid overtime, and denied minimum wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. Plaintiffs allege that Assistant Store Managers should have been paid time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek, because the primary and most important job duties of Assistant Store Managers where the same as hourly rate in-shoppers, who received overtime pay from Defendants. Plaintiff alleges that those duties include: (1) making sandwiches, (2) operating the cash register, (3) cleaning the store, (4) bussing tables, (5) stocking, (6) taking orders, and (7) other non-managerial, manual labor tasks.
Plaintiff seeks payment of all wages, minimum wages and overtime wages owed by FOX, plus other relief, including double damages, interest, attorney’s fees and costs. Plaintiff also seeks an injunction to prevent FOX from failing to pay Assistant Store Managers lawful wages, minimum wages, and overtime in the future.
The Lawsuits is:
Brittany Michelle Wall, James E. Kirkpatrick, Jr., and Paul Rowland, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Fox Restaurant Venture LLC, et al, Civil Action No. l 7- CV-2104 (“Lawsuit”), which is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Urbana Division, located in Urbana, Illinois.
- THE COURT HAS EXPRESSED NO OPINOI AS TO MERITS OF THE LAWSUIT
Although this notice and its contents have been authorized by the Court, the Court takes no position regarding the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims or Defendant’s defenses.
- YOUR RIGHT TO JOIN THE LAWSUIT
If you are currently or were formerly employed by Defendants in the position of Assistant Store Manager at any time from August 7, 2015 through the present, and if you worked over 40 hours a week without being paid overtime, you may join this lawsuit. It is entirely your own decision whether or not to join this lawsuit.
- LEGAL EFFECT OF JOINING THE LAWSUIT
If you decide to join the lawsuit, you will be bound by the judgment of the Court, whether the decision is favorable or unfavorable to you, or any settlement of the action that may later be approved by the Court as fair and reasonable. Although the Court has conditionally certified the lawsuit as a collective action, and you may choose to opt-in to the lawsuit now, the Court may later decide that the lawsuit should not proceed as a collective action, and you will have to file your own lawsuit, should you wish to pursue your claims.
While the suit is proceeding, you may be required to provide information and documents about your employment, appear under oath to testify at a deposition and/or testify or appear in court at trial in Urbana, Illinois.
By joining this lawsuit, you will designate individually named Plaintiffs, Brittany Watt, James E. Kirkpatrick, Jr., and Paul Rowland, as your agents for purposes of this lawsuit. They will be authorized to make decisions on your behalf concerning all aspects of the lawsuit. By joining the lawsuit, the collective attorneys will become your attorneys, and you will be entitled to communicate with, provide input, and receive advice directly from them.
- LEGAL EFFECT OF NOT JOINING THE LAWSUIT
If you decide not join the lawsuit, you will not be bound by the outcome, whether favorable or unfavorable, and you will retain any rights you may have under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- LEGAL REPRESENTATION IF YOU JOIN THE LAWSUIT
The attorneys for the Plaintiffs and the Collective are:
Elizabeth C. Chavez, Esq., Kathleen C. Chavez, Esq., Matthew J. Herman, Esq
FOOTE, MIELKE, CHAVEZ & O’NEIL, LLC
10 West State Street, Suite 200
Geneva, IL 60134
Tel. No.:(630) 232-7450
Fax No.:(630) 232-7452
If you have any questions about this lawsuit, you may contact the Plaintiffs’ and Collectives’ attorneys at (630) 232-7450. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONTACT THE COURT REGARDING THIS LAWSUIT.
- HOW TO JOIN THE LAWSUIT
If you wish to join the lawsuit, you must complete, sign and mail the enclosed “Consent to Join Form”
FOOTE, MIELKE, CHAVEZ & O’NEIL, LLC
10 West State Street, Suite #200
Geneva, IL 60134
https://www.fmcolaw.com/watt-notice-and-consent/
Your signed Consent to Join form must be signed and postmarked no later than JUNE 6, 2019, to be eligible to participate in the lawsuit. An envelope has been provided for your return of the Consent to Join form, should you decide to join the lawsuit.
Even if you timely return a Consent to Join form, your right to participate in the lawsuit is preliminary and will depend on a later determination by the Court whether you and the plaintiffs are actually “similarly situated” and therefore whether the case will continue as a Collective action.
- NO RETALIATION PERMITTED
The Fair Labor Standards Act expressly prohibits employers from retaliating against any person who files or joins a lawsuit or Complaint seeking unpaid wages, testifies in a lawsuit under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or otherwise participates in a proceeding to recover wages allegedly due and owing under the Fair Labor Standards Act.