A $1.2 million proposed settlement in a wage and hour lawsuit against burger chain Five Guys was rejected by a federal judge in California for the fourth time on Monday.

Plaintiff Jeremy R. Lusk, who filed the complaint in May 2017, alleges Five Guys Enterprises LLC and Encore FGBF LLC violated California credit reporting laws and failed to provide employees with minimum wages, adequate meal and rest breaks, reimbursement for business expenses and payment of final wages in a timely manner.

The judge rejected the proposed settlement again because it failed to address the court’s concerns over the adequacy of class relief and the treatment of putative class members. First, Lusk did not address the value or risks of his claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law.

“Without this information, the Court is left to surmise that the claim is worthless,” the order denying the settlement states. “This is exactly where the Court was with Lusk’s last motion as well.”

Second, the court is not convinced the stated class period of August 22, 2013 through October 19, 2020 is accurate since it fails to account for the two-year period between when the parties agreed on a settlement in 2018 and when the second motion for preliminary approval was denied in 2020.

“Like before, the Court suspects that the failure to account for this two-year span represents an undervaluation of the claims. And as the Court previously explained, undervaluing the claims in this fashion also comes with a...

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