Chipotle may have outsmarted itself by blocking thousands of employee lawsuits over wage theft

Fast-food companies accused of nickel-and-diming their workers through wage theft? That's become almost a dog-bites-man story in today's workplace environment. The same companies forcing the workers to bring their claims in arbitration rather than taking them to court? Ditto.

But here's a story about a fast-food company that appears to have outsmarted itself in fending off thousands of wage-theft claims. The company is Chipotle Mexican Grill, which owns more than 2,300 restaurants spanning the U.S.

Chipotle has been fighting claims of wage theft lodged in federal court by current and former workers since July 2013, with the army of plaintiffs having grown to about 10,000 strong. Back in August, the company won a major victory by persuading a federal judge in Denver