Denny’s Suit Gets Class-Action Status

A lawsuit accusing Advantica Restaurant Group’s Denny’s chain of withholding millions in overtime wages from managers in California will proceed as a class action, attorneys involved in the case said.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted class-action status Monday, allowing the case to be brought on behalf of more than 1,500 general managers and managers employed at 214 company-owned Denny’s restaurants in California since 1994, the managers’ lawyers said.

“This is one of the largest wage-and-hour class-action cases in the history of the state,” said William Hirsch, one plaintiff’s attorney.

The 1997 suit accuses Denny’s of requiring its California-based managers and general managers to work 60 hours or more a week and of failing to pay them overtime wages as required by state law.

Spartanburg, S.C.-based Advantica has denied the allegations. Its shares rose 9 cents to close at $4 on Nasdaq.