Jack in the Box Employees Sue Over Injuries and Labor Issues

By Merylee Robbins

Published on October 06, 2005

The civil lawsuit, which was filed in Marin Superior Court with the assistance of Legal Aid of Marin, claims that the Kahn's forced employees to work through breaks, work unpaid overtime, and failed to provide adequate medical assistance when employees were injured on the job.

The three employees, along with other Jack in the Box employees who feel that their rights were violated while working for the Kahns, are seeking compensation for unpaid wages and damages, penalty fees, and an injunction requiring Jack in the Box (referred to as AMK Enterprises in the suit) to comply with labor laws and put an end to unfair business practices.

All three employees involved in the suit are immigrant workers who feel that they were taken advantage of due to the tenuous nature of their employment. Many received burn injures while working with fryers and sustained fractures from heavy lifting, which went untreated and unreported to the proper authorities. Hours were also illegally "shaved" from their paychecks to reduce the amount of money they were to be paid. The employees feared that if they were to report these actions they would be fired from their jobs.

Lawsuits of this kind are not new to the Marin area, as many suits have recently been won against businesses found to be taking advantage of immigrant employees to increase profits.

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