Cjw_55106
Footballguy
Yeah, I know we have a lawyer thread...whatever. Despite the little details provided (and by that I mean, the "facts" are one sided), what would the FBG lawyers guess are the odds White Castle pays this off without going to court?
Side note: I know for a fact that 40 years is the magic number at White castle for collecting a pension. This may help people understand why a guy would not quit after being dropped to $10 an hour.
Terry Fransen started as an hourly White Castle employee in 1973. He worked his way up the ranks and was a general manager for three decades before he was forcibly demoted last year, he said.
Allen Spreeman started with White Castle in 1980. He, too, worked his way up to a management position that he held for 30 years until his reclassification and demotion this year.
The two men say they were victims of age discrimination and have sued the company for what they call a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Fransen, 58, of St. Paul reluctantly retired in October, on the day of his 40th anniversary with the company, after his salary was cut by 35 percent, the lawsuit said.
Spreeman, 51, of Montrose, Minn., is now working as an hourly crew member at a White Castle in St. Cloud. His wages went from $27 an hour to about $10 after he was told he could no longer be a manager after he returned from medical leave in January, according to the suit.
"You can imagine that, after giving decades and decades to your employer, this isn't exactly how they thought or hoped their employment would end," attorney Steven Andrew Smith said. "They're sad it ended this way. And, frankly, how often do you have employees with the same employer for 20-, 30-plus years anymore? It probably doesn't happen very often."
The two longtime employees filed their joint lawsuit against the company in Hennepin County on May 8. The case was moved to federal court May 27
An attorney for White Castle declined to answer questions about the case.
No more employees who 'looked like his mother'According to the suit, the alleged age discrimination began when Lisa Ingram -- great-granddaughter of company founder Billy Ingram -- took over as president of the company's restaurant division in 2011. Ingram was promoted to White Castle System Inc. president and chief operating officer in 2013, taking over the position her father had held since 1992.
White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kan., and claims it's America's first fast-food restaurant. The Columbus, Ohio-based company includes more than 400 White Castle restaurants across the country, which have amassed a cult following, in addition to frozen food and custom metal fabrication divisions. The restaurant is known for its signature "slider" burgers and castle-like exteriors.
In a July 2014 interview with Columbus CEO magazine, Lisa Ingram touted the company's "family-like atmosphere" and the fact that most managers had worked their way up from hourly positions.
"It's a wonderful testament to our company," Ingram told the magazine. "The average tenure of our general manager is 21 years."
Ingram herself is third-generation management in the family-owned business.
But according to Fransen and Spreeman's lawsuit, once behind closed doors, Ingram seemed less enthused about longtime employees and "began making age-related comments during company meetings."
Fransen said he recalled Ingram saying that the new ideal customers were in their 20s and that the company no longer wanted to attract older customers; she said millennials were more open-minded and "older people are old school." Ingram also allegedly said, "If you were in a life boat, who would you choose to be with you?" She answered that "she would want people like her, people who were energized and had their hair on fire, not those individuals who were slow," the lawsuit said.
Spreeman said a corporate employee told him in October, after Spreeman had interviewed a job applicant, "that he could no longer hire employees that 'looked like his mother,' " according to the suit.
Ingram's changes to the management structure began around 2011 and forced managers over 40 to quit or retire, according to the lawsuit. Fransen and Spreeman claim that managers were told they could reapply for their jobs or, in some cases, lower-ranking positions. If they did remain in management positions, they were given more duties, like overseeing multiple restaurants, the lawsuit said.
Retire or manage more sitesThe company said in its answer to the lawsuit that restructuring took place and managers were told they could "elect to retire or compete for remaining post-restructuring positions." The company also confirmed that district managers who remained "would be responsible for overseeing additional locations."
Fransen contends he asked Ingram during a meeting why the restructuring was happening and that she said "attrition was taking too long," according to the lawsuit. The company denied the allegation and called it "factually inaccurate, taken out of context, overly vague and ambiguous as to time or reference."
During restructuring, Fransen opted to stay on as a district manager and was assigned to oversee 10 restaurants. "By overloading Fransen with additional responsibilities, defendant was setting Fransen up to fail," the suit said.
In June 2014, Fransen was involuntarily reclassified to general manager -- a demotion, the lawsuit said. As a result, his wages were reduced from $1,700 per week to $1,000.
In about 2013, Spreeman was assigned management duties for White Castle restaurants in Blaine and St. Cloud, which are about 75 miles apart, and later reassigned to manage the Blaine and Columbia Heights locations, he said. Due to health issues, in April 2014, Spreeman was allowed to manage just one location.
In November, Spreeman took medical leave for knee surgery. When he returned to work in January he was told that he was being demoted "because he allegedly exhausted his (medical) leave so they no longer had a general manager position available for him," the lawsuit said.
Spreeman claims six other White Castle locations in Minnesota had open general-manager positions, but he was offered a crew manager or team-member position. His request to return to St. Cloud as a crew manager was denied, so he was assigned as a team member there instead, the suit said.
That resulted in a wage decrease of more than 50 percent and diminished benefits, according to the lawsuit.
Side note: I know for a fact that 40 years is the magic number at White castle for collecting a pension. This may help people understand why a guy would not quit after being dropped to $10 an hour.
Terry Fransen started as an hourly White Castle employee in 1973. He worked his way up the ranks and was a general manager for three decades before he was forcibly demoted last year, he said.
Allen Spreeman started with White Castle in 1980. He, too, worked his way up to a management position that he held for 30 years until his reclassification and demotion this year.
The two men say they were victims of age discrimination and have sued the company for what they call a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Fransen, 58, of St. Paul reluctantly retired in October, on the day of his 40th anniversary with the company, after his salary was cut by 35 percent, the lawsuit said.
Spreeman, 51, of Montrose, Minn., is now working as an hourly crew member at a White Castle in St. Cloud. His wages went from $27 an hour to about $10 after he was told he could no longer be a manager after he returned from medical leave in January, according to the suit.
"You can imagine that, after giving decades and decades to your employer, this isn't exactly how they thought or hoped their employment would end," attorney Steven Andrew Smith said. "They're sad it ended this way. And, frankly, how often do you have employees with the same employer for 20-, 30-plus years anymore? It probably doesn't happen very often."
The two longtime employees filed their joint lawsuit against the company in Hennepin County on May 8. The case was moved to federal court May 27
An attorney for White Castle declined to answer questions about the case.
No more employees who 'looked like his mother'According to the suit, the alleged age discrimination began when Lisa Ingram -- great-granddaughter of company founder Billy Ingram -- took over as president of the company's restaurant division in 2011. Ingram was promoted to White Castle System Inc. president and chief operating officer in 2013, taking over the position her father had held since 1992.
White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kan., and claims it's America's first fast-food restaurant. The Columbus, Ohio-based company includes more than 400 White Castle restaurants across the country, which have amassed a cult following, in addition to frozen food and custom metal fabrication divisions. The restaurant is known for its signature "slider" burgers and castle-like exteriors.
In a July 2014 interview with Columbus CEO magazine, Lisa Ingram touted the company's "family-like atmosphere" and the fact that most managers had worked their way up from hourly positions.
"It's a wonderful testament to our company," Ingram told the magazine. "The average tenure of our general manager is 21 years."
Ingram herself is third-generation management in the family-owned business.
But according to Fransen and Spreeman's lawsuit, once behind closed doors, Ingram seemed less enthused about longtime employees and "began making age-related comments during company meetings."
Fransen said he recalled Ingram saying that the new ideal customers were in their 20s and that the company no longer wanted to attract older customers; she said millennials were more open-minded and "older people are old school." Ingram also allegedly said, "If you were in a life boat, who would you choose to be with you?" She answered that "she would want people like her, people who were energized and had their hair on fire, not those individuals who were slow," the lawsuit said.
Spreeman said a corporate employee told him in October, after Spreeman had interviewed a job applicant, "that he could no longer hire employees that 'looked like his mother,' " according to the suit.
Ingram's changes to the management structure began around 2011 and forced managers over 40 to quit or retire, according to the lawsuit. Fransen and Spreeman claim that managers were told they could reapply for their jobs or, in some cases, lower-ranking positions. If they did remain in management positions, they were given more duties, like overseeing multiple restaurants, the lawsuit said.
Retire or manage more sitesThe company said in its answer to the lawsuit that restructuring took place and managers were told they could "elect to retire or compete for remaining post-restructuring positions." The company also confirmed that district managers who remained "would be responsible for overseeing additional locations."
Fransen contends he asked Ingram during a meeting why the restructuring was happening and that she said "attrition was taking too long," according to the lawsuit. The company denied the allegation and called it "factually inaccurate, taken out of context, overly vague and ambiguous as to time or reference."
During restructuring, Fransen opted to stay on as a district manager and was assigned to oversee 10 restaurants. "By overloading Fransen with additional responsibilities, defendant was setting Fransen up to fail," the suit said.
In June 2014, Fransen was involuntarily reclassified to general manager -- a demotion, the lawsuit said. As a result, his wages were reduced from $1,700 per week to $1,000.
In about 2013, Spreeman was assigned management duties for White Castle restaurants in Blaine and St. Cloud, which are about 75 miles apart, and later reassigned to manage the Blaine and Columbia Heights locations, he said. Due to health issues, in April 2014, Spreeman was allowed to manage just one location.
In November, Spreeman took medical leave for knee surgery. When he returned to work in January he was told that he was being demoted "because he allegedly exhausted his (medical) leave so they no longer had a general manager position available for him," the lawsuit said.
Spreeman claims six other White Castle locations in Minnesota had open general-manager positions, but he was offered a crew manager or team-member position. His request to return to St. Cloud as a crew manager was denied, so he was assigned as a team member there instead, the suit said.
That resulted in a wage decrease of more than 50 percent and diminished benefits, according to the lawsuit.
