Tag Archives: “California wage and hour”

Smoother Sailing Ahead for PAGA Arbitrability Under Viking River Cruises Decision

By Matthew Kane, Sylvia Kim and Amy E. Beverlin on June 15, 2022 Posted in Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements

On June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court finally brought closure to the long-running, unsettled issue of whether California’s prohibition against arbitration agreement waivers of the right to bring representative actions under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). California’s appellate courts and the Ninth Circuit … Continue Reading

The Ninth Circuit Bows to Supreme Court Authority, Affirms Three Principles Supporting Removal of CAFA Removal Cases

By Jeffrey Fields and Nicholas Poper on September 30, 2019 Posted in Class Action Fairness Act

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) grants federal courts jurisdiction to preside over certain class action cases where, based on the claims alleged, the amount in controversy is more than $5 million, among other factors. While CAFA provides a useful tool for defendants to remove class actions to federal court, CAFA creates an … Continue Reading

CA Supreme Court Rules That Employees Cannot Recover Unpaid Wages Through PAGA

By Joseph S. Persoff on September 12, 2019 Posted in PAGA

California’s Supreme Court has cut off an area of significant potential exposure for California employers by ruling that employees cannot recover unpaid wages on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved employees through California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Serving as a quasi-class action, California’s PAGA allows employees to recover civil penalties for California Labor Code … Continue Reading

Faulty Statistics Lead to Decertification of California Wage and Hour Case

By Greg Mersol on February 9, 2018 Posted in Wage and Hour

Nearly four years ago, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Duran v. U.S. Bank National Ass’n, 59 Cal. 4th 1 (2014), in which it virtually catalogued the many problems inherent in the plaintiffs’ statistical case that purported to demonstrate that a class of 260 outside salespeople were misclassified as exempt. … Continue Reading

California Court Denies Conditional Certification of “Regular Rate” Overtime Case

By Greg Mersol on November 6, 2017 Posted in Wage and Hour

With waves of cases already having addressed common targets for wage and hour litigation – assistant managers, healthcare workers, loan officers, donning and doffing claims, and the like – cases alleging more arcane claimed violations are becoming more common. In many of these cases, plaintiffs’ counsel have sighted popular employee perks, like free meals or … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court Clarifies “Day of Rest” Requirements

By Lucas Paule on May 10, 2017 Posted in Retail, Wage and Hour

California’s employment laws have consistently caused headaches for employers because even minor technical violations of these laws can fuel class action litigation and prove costly. However, a recent decision by the California Supreme Court, Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc. (SC S224611), provides some clarity by tackling three burning questions regarding California’s day of rest statutes – … Continue Reading

Court Decertifies Class Challenging Timekeeping Practices

By Greg Mersol on February 27, 2017 Posted in Wage and Hour

Yogi Berra often has been quoted for the phrase “It ain’t over till it’s over,” and Lenny Kravitz even made a hit song of it in 1991. While no one will likely ever make a popular song out of Rule 23, the phrase applies just as well to class action litigation, as a recent case … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court (!) Issues Strong Pro-Defense Wage and Hour Class Action Decision

By Greg Mersol on May 30, 2014 Posted in Class Certification, Wage and Hour

“Depending on the nature of the claimed exemption and the facts of a particular case, a misclassification claim has the potential to raise numerous individual questions that may be difficult, or even impossible, to litigate on a classwide basis.” “[T]rial courts deciding whether to certify a class must consider not just whether common questions exist, … Continue Reading

California Courts Deny Certification In Wage and Hour Cases Based On Claim That Employer “Should Have Known” Of Unpaid Time

By Greg Mersol on January 10, 2014 Posted in Class Certification, Wage and Hour

Back in October, we reviewed a number of California cases that, for the most part, denied certification in cases in which certification would have largely been a foregone conclusion only a few years ago. The first few days of 2014 have been quiet on the class action front so far, so let’s review a few … Continue Reading

California District Court Compels Arbitration of Class and Collective Wage and Hour Claims

By Greg Mersol on July 12, 2013 Posted in Wage and Hour

Dorothy Gale famously remarked upon finding herself in Oz “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Class action wage and hour plaintiffs on the west coast are now awakening to the fact that while they may still be in California, California isn’t California any more. In May we noted the almost overnight … Continue Reading

California District Court Rejects Proposed Class Action Settlement

By Greg Mersol on April 12, 2013 Posted in Wage and Hour

Court Finds No Support For 33%+ Attorney Fee Award It is axiomatic that the class action vehicle exists for the benefit of the claimants. An inherent conflict of interest may arise between the class and plaintiffs’ counsel over the issue of attorney fees, and resolution of that conflict may ultimately cause a court to reject … Continue Reading

California District Court Compels Arbitration of Class Wage and Hour Claims By Law Firm Partner

By Greg Mersol on August 7, 2012 Posted in Wage and Hour

Another California case has compelled the arbitration of a wage and hour claim in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011). While the outcome is of note, the case has several other interesting features as well, among them the question of why … Continue Reading

Judge Denies Class Certification as California Courts Continue to Weather the Wake of Brinker

By Jeffrey Vlasek on May 22, 2012 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods, Wage and Hour

Sometimes, when a heavily hyped movie arrives in theaters, the tremendous business it generates can have a negative effect on all the other surrounding films. For example, The Avengers landed in American cinemas on May 4, 2012. Since that time, not only has it racked up astronomical box office figures of its own (in fact, … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court Limits Attorney Fee Awards in Meal and Rest Period Cases

By Greg Mersol on May 4, 2012 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods

A Decent Ruling, But Not All It Could Be Rest and meal period class actions have vexed California employers and outsiders trying to conduct business in California for several years. Even a minor violation is argued to cascade into an array of class-wide claims that have been used to extract tens or hundreds of millions … Continue Reading

Trucking Industry Gets Another “Break” From California Meal Period Rules: Federal Court Finds Route Drivers’ Break Claims Preempted By FAAAA

By Sabrina Shadi on February 24, 2012 Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour

Following down the road paved late last year by the Ninth Circuit in Am. Trucking Ass’ns, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, (ATA II), 660 F.3rd 384 (2011), and the Southern District of California in Dilts v. Penske Logistics LLC (discussed here), Judge Jacqueline Nguyen in the Central District of California has dismissed a putative … Continue Reading

California Court Affirms Summary Judgment Against Putative Class of Insurance Agents

By Greg Mersol on January 13, 2012 Posted in Independent Contractors, Wage and Hour

Court Finds That Insurance Agents Were Independent Contractors As A Matter Of Law As we have noted in prior blogs, litigation involving alleged independent contractor status is on the rise, and is increasingly the topic of class action claims. Plaintiffs in these cases tend to argue that they were misclassified as independent contractors and were … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court’s Harris Decision May Become a Helpful Tool in Defeating Class Certification–Or Maybe it Won’t

By Todd Dawson on January 4, 2012 Posted in Class Certification, FLSA, Overtime Claims

An Irritable Pessimist’s View of a Welcome Decision After several years of waiting, the California Supreme Court handed down its long-anticipated decision in Harris v. Superior Court last week. Given the natural-born suspicion held by management-side lawyers toward anything that wanders its way out of the wilderness that is the California courts, it probably comes as … Continue Reading

California District Court Denies Certification of Wage and Hour Class: Court Thwarts Effort to Punish a Good Deed

By Greg Mersol on November 15, 2011 Posted in FLSA, Overtime Claims, Wage and Hour

An employer permits its employees to trade shifts voluntarily. A nice favor, right? Unfortunately, there are claimants ready to assert class action wage and hour claims when the employees’ own decisions create potential overtime issues. In Lessard v. Skywest Airlines, Inc., Case No. 2:11-cv-03769-JHN-VBK (C.D. Cal. Oct. 24, 2011), the plaintiffs were former ticket agents … Continue Reading

California District Court Denies Certification of Putative Class of Independent Contractor Strippers

By Holli Hartman on October 19, 2011 Posted in FLSA, Independent Contractors, Overtime Claims, Wage and Hour

COURT: EXOTIC PERFORMER MUST DANCE THE DANCE TO LEAD A CLASS ACTION An exotic dancer’s effort to certify a class of dancers in a minimum wage suit against an adult night club in California hit a bump and ground to a temporary halt in early October after a federal court determined she could not serve … Continue Reading

California Court Denies Certification of Class of Costco Managers

By Greg Mersol on October 13, 2011 Posted in FLSA, Retail, Rule 23

California has been the focus of numerous class action wage and hour suits involving retail managers and assistant managers. One reason is that California law defines the executive exemption slightly, but significantly differently than, federal law. Under both the FLSA and California law, courts will consider whether the employee’s “primary duty” is management. While under … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Affirms Decertification Of California Wage And Hour Case Involving Dock Supervisors

By Greg Mersol on May 6, 2011 Posted in Overtime Claims, Wage and Hour

Thomas Hobbes famously observed that life is short, nasty, and brutish. A recent case from the Ninth Circuit demonstrates that litigation is similar, except that it is not short. In Marlo v UPS.pdf (9th Cir., April 28, 2011), the plaintiff was a UPS employee who held various supervisory positions in connection with the movement of freight. … Continue Reading

California Appellate Court Sends Mixed Signals in Affirming Denial of Class Certification.

By Todd Dawson on April 29, 2011 Posted in Class Certification, Overtime Claims, Wage and Hour

The Second Appellate District in California recently affirmed a trial court’s refusal to certify a class of store managers in Mora, et al. v. Big Lots Stores, Inc.pdf., Case No. B221949 (April 18, 2011). Whether this case should be treated as a welcome sign for employers, however, remains an enigma wrapped inside a riddle (served … Continue Reading

$10 Million Settlement for Exotic Dancers a Not-So-Exotic Outcome in Wage Class Actions

By Holli Hartman on April 8, 2011 Posted in FLSA, Independent Contractors, Tip-Pooling, Wage and Hour

If you think wage and hour class actions aren’t very sexy, you’re wrong. A class of exotic dancers in California and other states have received preliminary court approval of a $10 million settlement of their class action suit in which they claimed that their adult nightclub employers misclassified them as independent contractors. Trauth v. Spearmint … Continue Reading

Court Decertifies Overtime Collective Classes of Fitness Trainers and Managers

By Greg Mersol on March 9, 2011 Posted in Class Certification, FLSA, Overtime Claims, Wage and Hour

We’ve commented in this blog in the past about the viability of classes that have been conditionally certified under the FLSA and that many are ultimately decertified. Another case underscores the importance of the distinction between conditionally certified classes under the FLSA and those that survive a motion to decertify. This case also underscores the … Continue Reading