Pizza Hut

In two class-actions lawsuits, Pizza Hut was alleged to improperly classify restaurant managers as exempt from overtime pay, even though they performed many of the same functions as workers who get overtime. Manager's duties at the restaurants of Louisville-based Yum! Brands Inc. involved handling food, ringing up checks and cleaning up. Pizza Hut has agreed to pay a total of $12.5 million -- $1.3 million in a federal lawsuit and $11.15 million in the state lawsuit -- to settle both class-action lawsuits. The federal settlement applies to restaurant general managers or training managers outside California who have worked at Pizza Hut at any time since Aug. 18, 2000, and who signed on to the class action before Nov. 4, 2005, while the state settlement covers the same positions for managers who worked at Pizza Hut in California any time since Aug. 18, 1999. (Jul-05-06) [COURIER-JOURNAL]