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Panera Bread may have served you a Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwhich with diced celery, seedless grapes, and special sauce served with lettuce and tomato on Sesame Semolina bread, but this morning they were served with a class action lawsuit in Cleveland’s federal district court for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wages Standards law.

Dawn Haney has worked at the North Olmsted location since 2009 and became an assistant manager two years ago. Her attorney filed a suit against the restaurant and its parent company, Warren-based Covelli Enterprises, on her behalf and for “others similarly situated” under the law. Haney, and others, were forced to work at least 45 hours per week without time-and-half overtime pay, which should have kicked in after 40 hours, it says. They seek a “trial by jury with the maximum number of jurors allowed by law.”

Read the suit:

Panera Lawsuit (PDF)
Panera Lawsuit (Text)

This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2013.

Doug Brown is a staff writer at Scene with a passion for public records laws and investigative reporting. A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he has an M.A. in journalism from the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in political science from Hiram College. Prior to joining Scene, Doug was a contributing writer for Deadspin.com, reporting behind-the-scenes stories about college sports through public records and developing sources. Doug's work as an enterprise reporter for the Daily Kent Stater was recognized by the Cleveland Press Club (2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards), Society of Professional Journalists (regional and national Mark of Excellence Awards), and the Associated Collegiate Press. He spent the summer of 2012 working for the Metro desk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and spent previous summers working for Outside Bozeman Magazine and Crain's Detroit Business. His website is dougbrown8.com.

2 replies on “North Olmsted Panera Bread, Parent Company, Sued For Unpaid Wages”

  1. I worked at this Panera Bread for years and once watched the District Manager throw away a woman’s application without even reading it. When asked why he did that, his response was “Did you see her?” – implying that she was overweight and unattractive.

    As a young girl just out of high school, I was on the other end of this spectrum – told numerous times to “keep your pretty face in the front of the house so the customers can see what a good looking staff I have.”

    The management at this Panera disgusted me. I am so glad one of their employees finally spoke out.

  2. The business models at such joints — treat the staff like garbage, keep the mindless advancing up the management ladder and have smiley ads that make things look absolutely wonderful.

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