Hospitality & Food Services

Plaintiff Brandon Berkenfeld is a former employee of Sysco Southeast Florida, LLC (“Sysco”). Sysco requires employees to provide them with two-weeks notice of separation from the Company and conditioning payment of accrued benefits of compliance with that notice provision. Despite burdening its employees with the inability to work for anyone else for two weeks after providing notice, Sysco has a uniform practice of rejecting employees’ two-week notice and immediately terminating them, refusing to pay them for that two-week contractual period. As a result, employees which often live paycheck to paycheck, have to choose between forfeiting two weeks way or their contractually accrued benefits (such as unused vacation days). These actions constitute a breach of the employment agreement Sysco requires their employees to enter into with it, a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unlawful denial of unpaid pages, and unjust enrichment.

This case seeks to certify a class of hundreds, if not thousands, of Floridians victimized by Sysco’s unlawful practices. If certified, this case can establish a powerful precedent precluding employers from creating onerous (and unlawful) conditions on employees leaving Sysco. There are approximately $10-12 million in estimated class damages.

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