{"id":15048,"date":"2025-10-23T17:27:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15048"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:27:07","slug":"chipotle-settles-gift-card-redemption-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15048","title":{"rendered":"Chipotle Settles Gift Card Redemption Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Chipotle must allow refunds for California consumers with gift card balances under $10<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LOS ANGELES Oct. 23, 2025<\/strong> \u2013 Chipotle Mexican Grill, a national restaurant chain with over 500 stores in California, has settled a consumer protection lawsuit alleging it failed to allow California consumers to cash out Chipotle gift cards with a remaining balance of less than $10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGift cards are real money purchased with hard-earned cash,\u201d Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. \u201cCalifornia law is clear that consumers have the right to redeem gift cards with a balance under $10 for cash. I thank Deputy District Attorney Duke Chau of our Consumer Protection Division for handling this case along with our partner district attorney\u2019s offices throughout California. Thanks to their hard work, companies throughout California are held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final judgment, which was entered in Ventura County Superior Court, totals $246,000, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Civil penalties: $145,467 total; $36,367 to the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investigative costs: $88,533 total; $20,000 to the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Restitution: $12,000 to the California Consumer Protection Prosecution Trust Fund to enhance investigation, prosecution and enforcement of consumer protection actions brought pursuant to California unfair competition statutes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cConsumers are watching every penny in today\u2019s economy and should never have to fight for rights guaranteed under state law,\u201d said Rafael Carbajal, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. \u201cThis settlement makes clear that Los Angeles County will hold businesses accountable when they fail to follow consumer laws.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The judgment, in which the company denied any wrongdoing, also provides the following injunctive relief for a period of four years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chipotle must create and maintain a website portal, initially accessible at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/links-1.govdelivery.com\/CL0\/https:%2F%2Fwww.chipotle.com%2Fgift-card-cashback%3Futm_content=%26utm_medium=email%26utm_name=%26utm_source=govdelivery%26utm_term=\/1\/0100019a1209e0dd-0e2b5a15-ac0c-4b71-b020-ae69bdc37abe-000000\/tAQMEZYZKD3p-FqTqYN-4RHmtoCqGHj_rByCiNsb0PE=428\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chipotle.com\/gift-card-cashback<\/a>, where consumers can request a refund for any card that carries a balance of less than $10. To obtain a refund, California consumers must enter their gift card\u2019s identifying information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chipotle must ensure that its new gift certificates, including those purchased through third parties, contain an updated notice on the front or back alerting California consumers that they may redeem the gift card for cash when its cash value is less than $10. The notice must include the website where consumers can obtain the refund.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The company cannot use the information associated with gift card redemptions provided by California consumers for any other purposes unrelated to the redemptions such as advertising or marketing without consumers\u2019 consent to these unrelated activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The lawsuit was led by the Ventura County District Attorney\u2019s Office and included the assistance of the district attorney\u2019s offices of Los Angeles, Shasta, and Sonoma counties, as well as the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chipotle must allow&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15049,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15048\/revisions\/15049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}