Caribou Coffee Lawsuit Could Become Class-Action

(AP) St. Paul Hundreds of former and current shop managers for Caribou Coffee Company Inc. should be allowed to collectively press their claims for overtime pay in a pair of lawsuits in federal and Minnesota courts, a federal magistrate says.

Friday's recommendation is a boost to the lawsuits claiming that managers for Caribou, the country's No. 2 specialty coffee chain behind Starbucks, are more barista than boss, and should be paid time-and-a-half for the 10 to 15 extra hours a week they regularly worked.

Federal and state laws say that all employees except managers are entitled to overtime pay for hours beyond a regular workweek. The managers' wages average about $18 an hour.

"We are very pleased," said plaintiffs attorney Jon Tostrud, of Los Angeles. "It permits us to proceed in a collective capacity."

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