Red Robin Inc. settles wage class action dispute for $8.5M in the middle of trial

Days into a federal trial, Red Robin International agreed to pay $8.5 million to workers who claimed they were cheated out of overtime wages and reimbursements for business expenses.

The resolution was reached Friday. The trial began four days earlier in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Manuel Vigueras et al v. Red Robin International Inc. et al., 8:17-CV-01422 (C.D. Cal., filed Aug. 17, 2017).

"It was a long and hard-fought battle but we feel good about it," plaintiffs' counsel James R. Hawkins, partner at James Hawkins APLC said Monday. "The settlement was very fair, adequate and reasonable to the class."

The action was filed in Orange County Superior Court in July 2017 before it was removed to federal court in August.

About a year before the plaintiffs took legal action against Red Robin, the burger chain had begun rolling out arbitration campaigns for all then-current employees. By the time the Vigueras class action was filed, a group of about 2,000 employees who signed arbitration agreements in 2016 also joined the class. That group was granted sub-class certification in October 2018, according to Christina M. Lucio of Farnaes & Lucio APC, who also represented the class members.

In February 2019, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna decertified the portion of workers who already agreed to sign arbitration agreements in 2016, before the Vigueras action was filed.

Counsel for Red Robin could not be reached for comment Monday.

-- Gina Kim