News in Brief April 21 – Gerber, TGI Friday's and More

Outback Steakhouse Reaches Wage and Hour Settlement

Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims that it forced employees to go in to work early for unpaid prep work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed settlement covers a conditionally certified class of hourly Outback workers who worked at the restaurant between April 11, 2013 and April 11, 2016.

TGI Friday’s Operator Facing Overtime, Minimum Wage Class Action

TGI Friday’s franchise operator Briad Restaurant Group LLC has been hit with a proposed class action claiming that it didn’t properly pay its tipped workers. The lawsuit says that TGI Friday’s employees working under Briad (including hosts, servers and bartenders) were paid less than minimum wage and were required to perform tasks that took them away from earning tips that could make up for it.

FedEx Drivers Settlement Granted Preliminary Approval

Judge Dale A. Drozd has granted preliminary approval to a settlement between FedEx Freight Inc. and a class of 1,600 California truck drivers. The drivers claimed that FedEx failed to properly pay them for all hours worked. The settlement amount was not made public, but it should provide a considerable payment to the drivers, according to Drozd.

Intuitive Makes a Deal Before Robot-Assisted Surgery Trial

Intuitive Surgical Inc. agreed to settle a lawsuit over a woman’s extreme injuries that she claimed stemmed from a robot-assisted hysterectomy. According to the lawsuit, the gynecologist performing the surgery used a medical robot, the da Vinci system, but didn’t have the necessary training from the manufacturer to use the machine for the procedure. The settlement was reached just before the case went to trial. The terms of the settlement were not made public.

Gerber Deceptive Label Suit Dismissed

Judge Marco A. Hernandez dismissed a proposed class action claiming that Gerber misleads its customers with deceptive labels, finding that the case preempted by federal law. The lawsuit claimed that Gerber’s Graduate Puff snacks tricked customers into thinking the products contained fruits and vegetable because of pictures on the packaging. Hernandez found that the Gerber’s actions in regard to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act were “a different question for a different day” and, because of the preemption, the plaintiff could not bring her claims that the company violated Oregon’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.