The two lower-level managers work at Aramark facilities in South Carolina and Florida, but they filed the lawsuit in Philadelphia as it's where Aramark is based. They say Aramark communicated the bonus plan in early 2018 to anyone meeting the eligibility requirements, but they claim the company broke its promise.
A spokeswoman for Aramark says the company "does not have a guaranteed bonus plan, and does have ultimate discretion to determine bonus payouts." Beyond that, it won't comment on pending litigation.
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The workers seek not only back pay, but class-action status for other managers, described as "hundreds, possibly thousands," who were owed bonus pay. The complaint indicates "the potential classwide damages exceed $5 million." One of them, Henry Lacher, claims to have earned a bonus of more than $40,000 in 2018; the other, Michael Ruskowski, more than $10,000.
They claim that when they were offered jobs with Aramark, the company wrote in their "employment offer details" that they were eligible for bonuses calculated according to a Management Incentive Bonus plan.
A company note to Lacher, for example, read 2018 "was a year in which we saw great disparity in the financial performance across our US businesses which impact bonus payments." The company did offer Lacher a one time payment of $27,500, using tax reform benefits the company received when corporate tax rates were cut. It says the one-time awards went to thousands of managers.
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Aramark says 90 percent of its $100 million savings from tax reform was invested in employees, for wage adjustments, employee training and education programs, and scholarships for them and their families. The company calls it "the single largest one-time people investment in Aramark’s history."
Aramark's global headquarters is at 2400 Market Street. It has 270,000 workers in 19 countries.
Among its clients are 38 teams in the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, nearly 150 professional and college teams, and more than 20 convention centers.