Meet Andrew Puzder, Trump's Labor Secretary nominee

Franklin resident Andrew Puzder, a business leader known for his corporate turnarounds as well as his outspoken opposition to a minimum wage hike and support for regulatory reform, was nominated Thursday by president-elect Donald Trump for Labor Secretary.

Trump praised Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurant Holdings, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants,  for his record of job creation and fighting for workers.

“Andy will fight to make American workers safer and more prosperous by enforcing fair occupational safety standards and ensuring workers receive the benefits they deserve, and he will save small businesses from the crushing burdens of unnecessary regulations that are stunting job growth and suppressing wages," Trump said in a news release Thursday.

Puzder served as a senior economic advisor during Trump’s campaign and praised the then-candidate’s tax plan as “pro-growth,” calling Trump’s populist message “refreshing.” He also was an economic advisor to 2008 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, currently a contender for Secretary of State.

“I am honored to be nominated by President-elect Trump for Secretary of Labor," Puzder said in the Trump news release. "I look forward to the opportunity to help President-elect Trump restore America’s global economic leadership. The President-elect believes, as do I, that the right government policies can result in more jobs and better wages for the American worker. I’m proud to be offered the chance to serve in his Administration.”

Puzder has pushed for regulatory reform, and railed against higher minimum wages and the burdens of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance requirements for employers, which requires singular businesses with at least 50 employees to provide health coverage for its workers. He co-authored the book, “Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It.”

Puzder has suggested that companies might look to automation, even kiosks, to counter higher minimum wage requirements.

Puzder is known in the corporate world as a turnaround specialist, twice saving financially troubled CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc.

He did this first in 1991, when he left his corporate law career to help Carl's Jr.'s founder Carl Karcher avoid bankruptcy and keep a stake in the company. He did it again after the acquisition of the company that owned Hardee's put CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc. $700 million in debt.

His strategies were not without controversy.  Puzder sought to sell larger, double-decker hamburgers in commercials featuring scantily-clad women, despite criticism from both health advocates and women’s groups,

"I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American," Puzder said in a 2015 interview with Entrepreneur magazine.

Puzder’s companies have been named in multiple class-action lawsuits, which allege employees were not paid fairly. 

In 2004, CKE, agreed to a $9 million settlement to resolve three class-action lawsuits concerning overtime pay for restaurant and general managers in California. The company was accused of improperly classifying employees as exempt under the state’s labor and wage laws, according to the company.

The company was sued in 2013 for allegedly failing to pay managers overtime. General managers were required to be on call at all hours, every day, but were not paid for all the hours of work they performed while on-call, according to the complaint. The class action lawsuit is still pending.

In 2014, Puzder said his company had spent $20 million on labor lawsuits in the previous eight years, according to a story in the Orange County (Calif.) Register. 

Puzder’s nomination drew criticism from labor groups, who cited his opposition to the minimum wage hike and to rules designed to protect workers as reasons why he is not a good fit for the job.

“The labor secretary serves as the chief advocate and protector of our nation’s workforce,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

“But based on Mr. Puzder’s own comments, it’s hard to think of anyone less suited for the job of lifting up America’s forgotten workers—as Trump had campaigned on—than Puzder. He opposes raising the minimum wage, threatens to replace restaurant workers with machines, has consistently opposed long-standing rules that protect workers and law-abiding employers and demonstrated that he prizes corporate welfare and profits over workers’ well-being.”

Giving the labor secretary job to Puzder “really is like giving the fox the key to the henhouse,” she said.

Before moving to CKE, he served as a lawyer in Missouri and became involved in politics. He authored a state law imposing restrictions on abortions and served as chairman of a Task Force for Mothers and Unborn Children under then-Gov. John Ashcroft.

He offered to resign from that post in 1989, according to a St. Louis Post Dispatch story at the time, after media controversy about his first wife’s allegations of domestic abuse were detailed in their divorce proceedings. The Riverfront Times in St. Louis published its story, and Puzder’s former wife last month said in an email provided to that newspaper: "I regretted and still regret that decision and I withdrew those allegations over thirty years ago. You were not abusive."

Members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation welcomed the news that Puzder will be joining Trump’s team if his nomination is approved in the Senate.

“Mr. Puzder is a respected business leader who understands how excessive regulation can destroy jobs and make it harder for family incomes to rise,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the Senate committee that has jurisdiction over health and labor issues.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, said Puzder would be a “superb addition” to Trump’s cabinet.

“Andy’s real-world experience creating jobs in the private sector will uniquely position him to be an effective voice for our nation’s workers, and I couldn’t be prouder to know that a Tennessean will have a seat at the table in this incoming administration,” Black said.

The CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc. headquarters will relocate to Williamson County in the first or second quarter of 2017, consolidating its headquarters in Carpinteria, Calif. and corporate Hardee's offices in St. Louis.

Matt Largen, CEO of Williamson Inc., the county's chamber of commerce, said the move will be a $5 million investment and will bring nearly 200 jobs to Franklin.

After his interactions with Puzder, Largen praised the nominee as a person and as a businessman concerned about the well-being of his employees.

"Our interactions have been extremely positive," Largen said. "I've found him engaging, thoughtful and very down to earth. He comes from Ohio and his family has manufacturing roots."

Reporters Michael Collins and Jamie McGee contributed to this report.

Reporter Jordan Buie can be reached by email at jbuie@tennessean.com or on Twitter @jordanbuie.