Tag Archives: “Meal and rest periods”

California Employers Must Pay Meal and Rest Period Premiums at the Regular Rate of Pay

By Joseph S. Persoff on July 15, 2021 Posted in California

When a California nonexempt employee is not provided a meal or rest period, Cal. Labor Code 226.7 requires an employer to pay a penalty to that employee in the amount of one hour of that employee’s “regular rate of compensation.” It was an open question whether an employee’s “regular rate of compensation” meant the employee’s … Continue Reading

New York District Court Denies Certification and Conditional Certification of Class of Personal Bankers

By Greg Mersol on September 10, 2013 Posted in Class Certification, FLSA, Nonexempt Status, Wage and Hour

One can only imagine the outcome the plaintiffs’ attorneys were anticipating: a case against the financial industry, involving non-exempt employees subject to an auto-deduct policy for meal periods, in the Southern District of New York. It seems like a laundry list of many types of claims that have been certified, and they no doubt expected … Continue Reading

California District Court Refuses to Certify Retail Rest and Meal Period Case

By Greg Mersol on November 26, 2012 Posted in FLSA, Meal and Rest Periods, Retail

In the wake of the California Supreme Court’s decision in Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court, 165 Cal. 4th 1004 (2012) (see our post on the decision), cases refusing to certify rest and meal period have become far more common as a recent decision from the United States District Court for the Central District of California … Continue Reading

California Trial Court Decertifies Class of 13,000 Wackenhut Employees Under Dukes

By Greg Mersol on August 8, 2012 Posted in Retail, Wage and Hour

What a difference a year or two can make in class action litigation. On March 10, 2010, the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, California certified a class of 13,000 employees in a series of consolidated cases asserting California rest and meal period claims against global security giant Wackenhut. Wackenhut Wage and Hour Cases, Judicial … Continue Reading

FAAAA Keeps “Trucking” Through California Meal and Rest Break Laws

By Gilbert Brosky on June 26, 2012 Posted in FLSA

We have previously wrote about the recent success of California trucking companies defeating California meal and rest break claims by arguing that the laws are preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA). Specifically, Esquivel v. Vistar Corp., No. 2:11–cv–07284–JHN–PJWx, 2012 WL 516094 *6 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2012) (discussed here), and Dilts v. … 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 Appeals Court Finds Plaintiffs’ Counsel Inadequate, Upholds Denial of Class Certification Motion

By Gilbert Brosky on May 14, 2012 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods, Wage and Hour

It’s bad enough that a plaintiff’s attorney loses a motion to certify a class – it must be even worse when the reason the motion is denied is the attorney’s own failure to plead his case properly. A recent California court of appeals decision affirmed the denial of a California meal and rest break class … 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

California Supreme Court Decides Brinker

By Greg Mersol on April 12, 2012 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods

Employers Prevail on Duty to Provide Meal Periods; Mostly Good on Certification “We will decide no case before its time.” Alright, that’s not really the California Supreme Court’s motto, but it certainly did take its time deciding the Brinker case. During the three and a half years the case was pending before the state Supreme … Continue Reading

Dukes Claims California Meal and Rest Period Cases

By Greg Mersol on January 31, 2012 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods, Retail, Wage and Hour

The Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), seems to be taking hold in meal and rest period cases in California, as shown by two decisions handed down this month. The most recent casualty of the holding in Dukes is Cortez v. Best Buy Stores, LP, Case No. … Continue Reading

Unaccepted Offers of Judgment Ineffective in FLSA Collective Cases

By Greg Mersol on September 8, 2011 Posted in Class Certification, FLSA, Meal and Rest Periods

Plaintiffs frequently include collective action allegations in even run-of-the-mill FLSA cases. What if an employer concludes, however, that no matter how frivolous the underlying claim, the defense costs will be more than even an oversized settlement? In theory, an offer of judgment under Federal Rule 68 would be one avenue. By offering the plaintiff all … Continue Reading

Another Court Denies Certification of a California Meal Break Class

By Greg Mersol on October 29, 2010 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods

The obligation to provide rest and meal periods has vexed California employers since its inception. While few employers would quibble with the notion that employees should have reasonable time off during work for breaks and meals, the language of the applicable wage order and its interpretation by some courts may create severe problems and class action claims. Central … Continue Reading