The Labor Department said JM Burke LLC, operator of four northern Virginia Jersey Mike’s franchises, allowed 14 minors to use meat slicers and work prohibited hours. The company paid $108,161 in child-labor penalties and $856 in overtime back wages, and agreed to enhanced compliance measures, including training and monitoring.
BALTIMORE – U.S. Department of Labor investigations at four northern Virginia Jersey Mike’s franchise locations have found the operator allowed more than a dozen employees under the age of 16 to perform dangerous tasks and work longer than permitted in violation of federal child labor regulations.
In October 2018, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Jersey Mike’s refused to remove no-poach clauses from franchise contracts and filed suit, alleging they violated state antitrust law. His office sought an order barring the clauses at Washington and nationwide locations and said the company could face up to $500,000 in civil penalties; the case outcome is not given.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today filed a lawsuit against national restaurant chain Jersey Mike’s after it refused to remove no-poach clauses from its franchise contracts.
Jersey Mike’s July 2026 IPO filing disclosed that founder and former CEO Peter Cancro’s stepson received about $50.5 million in 2023–2025 compensation; his brother and brother-in-law also received substantial compensation. It said a $41 million aircraft was transferred to a Cancro-controlled entity in connection with Blackstone’s 2024 majority-stake acquisition. Forbes also raised concerns about debt, distributions and investor control; the share
Jersey Mike’s has filed for an initial public offering, and its disclosures reveal just how much its founder and former CEO Peter Cancro and his family collected in compensation and other perks.
The filing’s disclosures about payments to founder Peter Cancro’s family and the transfer of a corporate aircraft to a Cancro-controlled entity have attracted understandable attention. The filing shows that Cancro’s stepson, Phillip Sivolobov, received approximately $50.5 million from 2023 through 2025, while a corporate aircraft was transferred to a Cancro-controlled entity for roughly $41 million.
Jersey Mike’s filed publicly for an IPO on July 2 and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JMKE. The filing does not yet include the number of shares to be sold or the expected price range, so the most important part of the investment decision remains unknown.
The sandwich chain’s Form S-1 prospectus filed last week shows Cancro’s stepson Phillip Sivolobov received $50.5 million in compensation from the restaurant between 2023 and 2025. Cancro’s brother John Cancro received about $21 million in compensation over the same period and brother-in-law Daniel Powers amassed more than $31 million from fiscal 2024 to 2025. According to the filings, the family members were “employed by the Company in various roles.” They did not receive any payment from the company in the 13 weeks leading up to March 29, the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
Peter Cancro's stepson, Phillip Sivolobov, received over $50.5 million in total compensation from Jersey Mike's from 2023 to 2025, according to the filing, which said family members “were employed by the Company in various roles.”
Peter Cancro's stepson, Phillip Sivolobov, received over $50.5 million in total compensation from Jersey Mike's from 2023 to 2025, according to the filing, which said family members "were employed by the Company in various roles."
On June 28, 2022, the Labor Department said investigations at 10 Jersey Mike’s Subs locations found 14- and 15-year-olds working beyond permitted hours and the employer failing to keep proof-of-age documents. Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems Inc. paid $24,660 in civil penalties. The agency said the violations breached federal child-labor provisions.
U.S. Department of Labor investigations at 10 Jersey Mike’s Subs locations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems Inc. of Manasquan allowed 14-and 15-year-olds to work past 7 p.m. on school days, past 9 p.m. in the summer and more than three hours on school days. The employer also failed to maintain proof-of-age documents for minors, all violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions.
A July 2026 Forbes commentary said Jersey Mike’s IPO filing raised concerns that proceeds could repay debt rather than fund growth, after private owners had received substantial distributions. The author cited $2.1 billion in debt and said Blackstone could retain majority voting control. The piece advised investors to await final valuation and proceeds details; these were the author’s assessments, not reported outcomes.
Jersey Mike's recent IPO filing confirms earlier warnings that the offering may prioritize private owners' financial exit over growth funding. While the sandwich chain boasts a strong brand, asset-light franchise model, and over 3,300 locations, its financial structure raises red flags. The company carries $2.1 billion in debt, and IPO proceeds are slated for repayment, following significant distributions to private equity owners like Blackstone. Blackstone, which acquired a majority stake at $8 billion, aims for a $10-12 billion IPO valuation while retaining majority voting control, limiting public investor influence. With slowing same-store sales growth, investors are urged to await final valuation and use of proceeds before committing, as a great business can still be a poor stock at the wrong price.
Jersey Mike’s and SoundHound began using the voice-ordering system at five or six locations as the first wave of a 50-store pilot, the company told Restaurant Dive in January 2024. SoundHound said the system answers all calls at participating stores and can take orders and respond to customer questions.
Jersey Mike’s and SoundHound have deployed the latter’s voice ordering artificial intelligence tool at five or six Jersey Mikes locations in the first wave of a 50-store pilot, a Jersey Mike’s representative wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive.
OpenSecrets reports $6,206 in total payments to Jersey Mike’s for the 2024 election cycle, based on federal campaign-finance data available June 24, 2025. Listed payors include Scalise for Congress ($1,827), Esposito for Congress ($931) and Ilhan for Congress ($740); the table shows reported payments, not the company’s political contributions.
In 2019, Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems selected identity-as-a-service provider Auth0 to manage customer logins for its mobile app, replacing its proprietary authentication system. CIO Scott Scherer said the move brought external security expertise and let customers retain their passwords during migration. The company sought centralized management of customer and internal data while improving app security and ease of use.
The company chose an identity as a service (IDaaS) provider to take the reigns for securing customer logins.
In 2023, Jersey Mike’s sued three California residents, alleging they filed frivolous arbitration claims over the company’s sharing of website data with Facebook. The residents argued Jersey Mike’s was trying to bypass its arbitration agreement. In June 2024, a federal judge dismissed the suit, which claimed the American Arbitration Association enabled meritless claims.
By Caroline Simson ( August 18, 2023, 8:52 PM EDT) -- Two California women are urging a New Jersey court to toss litigation filed by Jersey Mike's accusing them of filing frivolous claims over its practice of sharing data with Facebook, arguing Thursday that the sandwich shop is trying to "do an end run" around its own arbitration agreement. . . .
Jersey Mike's said in its suit that two of the defendants had together filed frivolous claims in at least 15 cases arising from their use of various company websites, and that those claims generally ended in "nuisance value settlements."
On August 14, 2021, founder Peter Cancro and his wife, Tatiana, gave $10 million to the Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation. Cancro said the gift reflected his commitment to giving back during the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation said the donation would support its health-care mission and communities it serves.
NEPTUNE - Jersey Mike's founder Peter Cancro and his wife Tatiana have given a $10 million gift to the Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation.
Fernando Rodriguez sued Jersey Mike’s and Grubhub, alleging negligence after finding dentures in a sandwich delivered on April 27, 2025. His complaint says Jersey Mike’s prepared and secured the order and should have protected it from contamination; it also alleges a Grubhub driver tampered with the packaging. Grubhub said the driver was no longer contracted; Jersey Mike’s had not immediately responded.
The lawsuit further alleges Grubhub does not properly screen, supervise, train or monitor its delivery drivers. Regarding Jersey Mike's, the complaint says the chain should have safeguarded the sandwich in a sanitary and tamper-resistant manner.
In August 2018, Jersey Mike’s advised some account holders to reset passwords after detecting account issues. The company said credentials may have come from compromised accounts on other services where customers reused them, and maintained that Jersey Mike’s was not the source of the breach.
"Jersey Mike's was not the source of any breach," the company said in a statement on its website. The company said it sent "a select number" of Jersey Mike's customers an email asking them to reset their passwords because of the breach.
A 2013 NLRB case named Kenny Brothers Inc., doing business as Jersey Mike’s Subs, as the charged employer in an allegation involving retaliation, discharge or discipline for concerted activity. The agency docket records a letter approving a withdrawal request on February 14, 2014, and lists the case as closed; the supplied record does not state the underlying facts.