Five undocumented immigrant workers have filed a lawsuit against The Cheesecake Factory, alleging that the company knowingly recruited them and subjected them to forced labor and discriminatory treatment at its Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, location.
Filed on June 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the suit—Doe A.S.M. v. The Cheesecake Factory Inc.—accuses the restaurant chain of violating the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Pennsylvania's Human Trafficking Act and Human Rights Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs, two men and three women, claim that The Cheesecake Factory provided them with fraudulent employment documents and coerced them into working unpaid regular and overtime hours.
The suit also claims the workers were denied bathroom and meal breaks, required to work while sick or under hazardous conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and threatened with deportation if they failed to meet management's expectations. Furthermore, the plaintiffs state that they were forced to sign documents in English, which they could not understand, and were subjected to verbal abuse and racial slurs.
"The allegations in the complaint are entirely false and without merit," said Sidney M. Greathouse, Senior Vice President of Legal Services, in a statement reported by The Miami Herald, adding that:
"The company follows well-established internal protocols to ensure consistent compliance with all federal employment verification laws, including our obligations under Form I-9 requirements. We take these matters seriously and intend to vigorously defend against these baseless accusations through the appropriate legal channels. We are confident that the facts will clearly demonstrate the integrity of our practices"
The case also raises questions about the company's use of E-Verify, a system that electronically confirms employment eligibility by comparing information from Form I-9s with records from the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
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