Two women suing Chipotle for sex discrimination settle out of court

Two Cincinnati women who sued Chipotle Mexican Grill in U.S. District Court for sex discrimination settled their suit out of court.

The settlement comes after three former female general managers in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati and won their discrimination case against the fast-casual restaurant chain earlier this year.

Federal court documents indicate that a settlement was reached between plaintiffs Cristie Reynolds and Kerri Breeze, and the Denver-based chain. Their suit was separated from the original lawsuit with the plaintiffs who won their February ruling.

District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith bifurcated the cases due to the number of plaintiffs.

"It is ordered that this action is hereby dismissed with prejudice, provided that any of the parties may, upon good cause shown within fifteen (15) days, reopen the action if settlement is not consummated," Beckwith wrote in an order on April 12.

The court retains jurisdiction over the settlement, for which details were not disclosed.

According to court documents, Reynolds, who worked at the Oxford Chipotle, was hired by the company in February 2004 as an assistant restaurant manager, was promoted several times, and in 2007 became an area manager. Following several demotions, she was eventually fired from her position.

Breeze worked at the Kenwood Towne Centre location and was hired by Chipotle in December 2008, and also received several promotions before being fired. Both women alleged they were wrongly terminated by a former manager who they said treated male general managers better than the females, despite the women receiving similar or better performance evaluations or “audits.”

"We are very pleased this matter has been resolved," said Kelly Mulloy Myers, the plaintiffs' attorney. "Our clients pursued this case for themselves, their daughters, and working women across the region. They are happy they had an opportunity to make a difference."

A lawyer for Chipotle could not be reached for comment.

The first three women's trial took place in February, where the plaintiffs won $600,000 collectively. A month later one plaintiff was awarded an additional $116,000 from Beckwith for her Family Medical Leave Act claim.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission describes sex discrimination as that which “involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person’s sex. The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.”