Former Chipotle manager accused of stealing $626 is awarded $8 million
Jeanette Ortiz - a 14-year Chipotle veteran before she was fired in 2015 - was awarded nearly $8 million by a California jury in Fresno County Superior Court for loss of wages, as well as damage to her reputation and emotional and mental distress.
On Monday, she and her attorneys settled with Chipotle for a separate, confidential amount - apparently in lieu of punitive damages, which could have run as high as nine times the nearly $8 million award. This put an end the three-year ordeal that had branded the mother of nine a criminal.
"She's the American Dream, she's just a hard-working person. And when you call somebody a thief, you destroy their life," Ortiz's attorney, Warren Paboojian, said after Monday's verdict. "That's the ultimate. You're not going to be able to get a job anywhere with that label hanging over her head."
Ortiz could not be reached for comment. Paboojian said she worked 50 hours a week as a general manager at the Mexican fast-casual chain, making $72,000 a year. When Ortiz was fired in January 2015, she was up for a promotion under which she would have been paid $100,000 a year. For years, Ortiz had received glowing performance reviews.
Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chipotle-manager-damages-award-20180515-story.html
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