ST. LOUIS — Steak 'n Shake wants to settle two lawsuits alleging managers didn't receive overtime pay for $8.3 million, according to a filing Monday in federal court.
A judge overseeing one of the suits, John Ross, in May ordered the hamburger chain to pay $7.7 million. That lawsuit covered mostly managers in Missouri. Another suit covered those in the rest of the country.
According to the filing Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, managers will receive $5.2 million of the award, with the rest going for legal fees. The attorneys for the plaintiffs are Brendan Donelon and Daniel Craig of Donelon PC, with offices in Kansas City and St. Louis.
Ross would have to approve the settlement.
Two St. Louis-area Steak 'n Shake managers, Sandra Drake and Randy Smith, brought suit in 2014, alleging that corporate-owned restaurants in the company's "St. Louis region" did not pay managers for overtime work, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Missouri wage laws. The other suit was filed in 2017.
Steak 'n Shake, an Indiana firm represented by Ogletree Deakins of St. Louis, had responded that, among other things, the plaintiffs were paid everything they were owed under the law. Steak 'n Shake is owned by Biglari Holdings Inc. of San Antonio (NYSE: BH).
S&P Global Ratings said Friday it expects Steak 'n Shake's operating results "to deteriorate further," adding that the hamburger chain is at heightened risk for a debt restructuring.
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