I'm not sure why you are hellbent on assuming they were not legally required to get a break. There are a ton of state laws that require breaks.

Depending on what state they are in they can still have a legally required break that they were denied. E.g. California.

But like, maybe you should go read their post again because it sounds like you clearly didn't understand parts of it.

Like they said, they thought they were closing. They didn't know they were on a short shift...

Also depending on the state they could still have a legally required break for the number of hours they worked.

It's in the 1st sentence?