Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. sued by former Manager

MINNEAPOLIS, July 26, 2005 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/-- Three former Caribou Coffee managers from Minnesota filed a nationwide wage and overtime class action lawsuit today in Hennepin County Court against Caribou. The class action suit, first served on Caribou on May 25, 2005, charges Caribou with wrongfully denying overtime pay due to current and former Caribou store managers and managers-in-training (MITs). The lawsuit contends that Caribou misclassified its Store Manager and MIT positions as exempt under the Minnesota and Federal Fair Labor Standards Acts to avoid paying overtime compensation. It also alleges that Store Managers and MITs worked over 40 hours per week and spent the majority of their time engaged in non-managerial "barista" work, such as waiting on customers, making various coffee drinks, serving the customers, ringing up the sales and the like. Consequently, according to the complaint, Store Managers and MITs should have been paid overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week."Caribou directed me to work a minimum of 55 hours per week," said former manager and current plaintiff Daniel Williams-Goldberg. "Some weeks I worked much more than the required 55 hours, and Caribou never paid me overtime. Instead, Caribou told me to 'do what it takes' to get the job done. The primary goals of this lawsuit are to change the way Caribou treats these Managers and MITs, and to recover lost overtime wages," added Williams- Goldberg. "These employees work incredibly long hours -- this lawsuit seeks a structural change at Caribou that guarantees them overtime for hours worked in excess of 40," stated one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, Jon Tostrud. Several other retail restaurant chains, including Starbucks Corp., have been sued for similar violations. The managers and MIT's are represented by the law firms of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP; Lockridge Grindal & Nauen, PLLP; and Halunen & Associates. Factual Background

* The case is filed in Hennepin County Court in the State of Minnesota. The case has not yet been assigned to a judge.* The three plaintiffs are former store managers and/or managers-in-training (MITs) of Caribou.* The case is filed as a class action on behalf of all Caribou managers and MITs from May 25, 2002 to the present.* Under the FLSA, employees are entitled to time-and-one-half pay for each hour over 40 hours worked in a work week, unless they are exempt from the Act. The FLSA states that employers do not have to pay overtime to higher level workers, such as management. However, the mere fact that an employee is given the title, classified by an employer as exempt and paid on a salary basis does not automatically remove that employee from the protection of the FLSA. Rather, determinative factors include whether the primary duties and responsibilities of the employee comply with applicable federal standards and are commonly associated with management. * The primary goals of this lawsuit are to: (a) require Caribou to pay overtime wages to Store Managers, and (b) recover lost overtime wages and other just damages for employees who were misclassified and denied overtime payment. * According to Caribou's website, Store Managers, who Caribou describes as "front-line champions of the retail space," are expected to "work 55 hours per week." * Caribou is a privately-held company with more than 300 stores in 12 states and the District of Columbia. There are more than 150 stores in Minnesota. * Caribou recently announced that it is planning a public offering of stock and also announced plans to expand into the Middle East.source:Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP