Over the past two weeks, the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly underscored the importance of having common questions that are susceptible to common answers in cases where plaintiffs are seeking class certification. Most recently, the Court clarified that this requirement, which has now been considered in both antitrust and employment cases, applies with respect… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Class Actions
Subscribe to Class Actions RSS FeedArbitration Clauses Are Enforceable Despite Waiver Of Classwide Arbitration Rights
Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class ActionsFlores v. West Covina Auto Group, 2013 WL 139200 (Cal. App. Jan. 11, 2013) Israel Flores and Andrea Naasz sued West Covina Toyota (WCT) and Toyota Motor Sales for selling them a “lemon,” alleging both individual and class action claims, including claims for violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). WCT filed a motion… Continue Reading
Certification Was Properly Denied In Class Action Seeking Reimbursement From Employer
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Employment Policies, Expense ReimbursementMorgan v. Wet Seal, Inc., 210 Cal. App. 4th 1341 (2012) Crystal Morgan and two other former employees sued Wet Seal because the company allegedly required employees to purchase Wet Seal clothing and merchandise as a condition of employment and also failed to reimburse employees for their mileage between Wet Seal business locations. The trial… Continue Reading
Trial Court Erred In Failing To Certify Class Action For Unpaid Overtime And Meal-And-Rest Breaks
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Contracts, Employment Law Notes, Independent Contractors, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Off-the-clock IssuesBradley v. Networkers Int’l, LLC, 2012 WL 6182473 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) The three named plaintiffs in this case were among approximately 140 skilled workers retained by Networkers to provide repair and installation services at cell sites. Each worker was required to sign a standard contract, which stated that he or she was an independent… Continue Reading
Trial Court Erred In Part In Failing To Certify Class Of Newspaper Home Delivery Carriers
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law NotesAyala v. Antelope Valley Newspapers, Inc., 2012 WL 4098995 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) Plaintiffs Maria Ayala, Rosa Duran and Osman Nuñez sought to certify a class of newspaper home delivery carriers in a lawsuit brought against Antelope Valley Newspapers, Inc. (“AVN”), alleging that AVN had improperly classified the carriers as independent contractors rather than employees… Continue Reading
Brinker Dooms Class Certification of Meal and Rest Period Claims
Posted in Class Actions, Meal Periods and Rest BreaksPlaintiff Rogelio Hernandez brought a putative class action lawsuit for Chipotle’s alleged failure to provide meal and rest breaks to its non-managerial employees pursuant to California Labor Code Section 226.7. The California Court of Appeal held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal. 4th 1004, precluded class certification… Continue Reading
Appellate Courts Begin To Apply Brinker Decision
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Wage and HourHernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2012 WL 3579567 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) Rogelio Hernandez appealed from the order denying his motion for class certification and granting Chipotle’s motion to deny class certification as to his claims that Chipotle denied non-exempt employees their meal and rest breaks. Chipotle moved to deny class certification on the… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Certifies Question To California Supreme Court Regarding Commission Exemption
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law NotesPeabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., 2012 WL 3538753 (9th Cir. 2012) Susan J. Peabody was employed as a commissioned salesperson by Time Warner Cable (“TWC”) for approximately 10 months. Peabody’s commissions were based on the revenue generated by advertising that was aired every broadcast month, which lasted four or five weeks. Peabody also received… Continue Reading
California Court Criticizes Prior Case Law Invalidating Class Action Waivers, Then Punts To State Supreme Court
Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, FAATruly Nolen of America v. Superior Court, 2012 WL 3222211 (Aug. 13, 2012) California law involving classwide wage-and-hour arbitration continues to evolve in the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), which generally prohibits states from requiring additional due process guarantees (not… Continue Reading
California Court Approves Class Action Waivers In Employment Arbitration Agreements
Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, FAA, Wage and HourThe plaintiff in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, brought a putative class action and a representative action under California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) for various wage and hour violations. During his employment, Iskanian agreed that he would not assert class action or representative action claims against his employer and, instead, agreed to submit… Continue Reading
Employers Need Only Provide (Not Ensure) Meal And Rest Breaks
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Off-the-clock Issues, Wage and HourBrinker Rest. Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th 1004 (2012) In this long-awaited opinion, the California Supreme Court determined several important issues of law regarding meal and rest breaks. First and foremost, the Supreme Court determined that “an employer’s obligation is to relieve its employee of all duty, with the employee thereafter at liberty… Continue Reading
California Supreme Court Issues Long Awaited Opinion on Meal and Rest Breaks
Posted in Class Actions, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Wage and HourThis morning, the California Supreme Court issued its long awaited opinion in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court. Taking up two crucial issues that have spawned dozens of class action suits across the state, the Court answered the questions: (1) must an employer merely provide a meal break to employees or must it ensure that… Continue Reading
TV Writers and Proskauer Client CAA Reach Preliminary Agreement to Settle
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination, NewsCreative Artists Agency (CAA) and representatives of a class of television writers today announced the settlement of a case alleging age discrimination in the representation of television writers. The case was the last of 23 separate class actions that were filed a decade ago by the writers against the major television networks, production studios, and… Continue Reading
Court of Appeal Rejects “Trial by Formula,” Reverses Multimillion Dollar Verdict and Orders Class Decertified
Posted in Class Actions, Exempt Employees, Overtime, Wage and HourDuran v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, No. A125557, 2012 WL 366590 (Feb. 6, 2012) In a decision destined to have significant statewide ramifications, the California Court of Appeal for the First District reversed a trial court’s certification of a wage-hour class and determination of liability, concluding that the trial court had failed to follow “established… Continue Reading
California Law Should Have Been Applied To Determine If Drivers Were Employees Or Independent Contractors
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, FLSA, Independent Contractors, Overtime, Wage and Hour, Workers CompensationRuiz v. Affinity Logistics Corp., 667 F.3d 1318 (9th Cir. 2012) Fernando Ruiz and similarly situated drivers filed a class action against Affinity alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law for failure to pay overtime, failure to pay wages, improper charges for workers’ compensation insurance and unfair business practices. To work… Continue Reading
Employer Was Deprived Of Due Process By Trial Court’s Erroneous Use Of Representative Sampling
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Exempt Employees, Overtime, Wage and HourDuran v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 203 Cal. App. 4th 212 (2012) U.S. Bank (“USB”) appealed a $15 million judgment that was entered against it following a bifurcated bench trial. The plaintiffs are 260 current and former business banking officers who claimed they were misclassified by USB as outside sales personnel exempt from overtime pay…. Continue Reading
PAGA Judgment Is Mostly Affirmed In Employee’s Favor
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Unfair Competition, Wage and HourThurman v. Bayshore Transit Mgmt., Inc., 203 Cal. App. 4th 1112 (2012) Leander Thurman sued Bayshore for alleged violations of the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) and the Unfair Competition Law and, following a bench trial, a judgment was entered imposing civil penalties, including unpaid wages, against Bayshore in the total amount of… Continue Reading
Nonexclusive Insurance Agent Was An Independent Contractor
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Expense Reimbursement, Independent Contractors, Wage and HourArnold v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 202 Cal. App. 4th 580 (2011) Kimbly Arnold filed a complaint against Mutual of Omaha on her behalf and on behalf of a putative class of similarly situated “licensed agents” and “sales representatives” of the company, alleging violations of the California Labor Code, including provisions governing expense reimbursement… Continue Reading
Claims For Reporting Time Pay And Split Shifts Were Properly Dismissed
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Release Agreements, Reporting Requirements, Wage and HourAleman v. AirTouch Cellular, 202 Cal. App. 4th 117 (2011) Daniel Krofta and Mary Katz filed this putative class action against their employer, alleging reporting time pay violations and seeking additional compensation for working split shifts. Krofta sought reporting time pay for days he attended meetings at work even though he was furnished work (and… Continue Reading
Attorney Was Properly Denied Precertification Discovery To Find A New Class Representative
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Unfair Competition, Wage and HourPirjada v. Superior Court, 201 Cal. App. 4th 1074 (2011) Putative class representative Obaidul H. Pirjada filed a complaint on behalf of himself and a putative class of all security guards who had been employed in California by Pacific National Security, Inc. during the preceding four years. The complaint alleged a failure to provide meal-and-rest… Continue Reading
Insurance Claims Adjusters May Be Exempt Administrative Employees
Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, Exempt Employees, Overtime, Wage and HourHarris v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 170 (2011) Plaintiffs in this case are claims adjusters employed by two insurance companies. They filed four putative class actions, claiming they had been erroneously classified as exempt administrative employees and seeking damages based upon unpaid overtime. The court of appeal held as a matter of law that plaintiffs… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Applies Supreme Court’s “Rigorous Analysis” Test And Vacates Certification Of Class Action
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination, Employment Law NotesEllis v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 657 F.3d 970 (9th Cir. 2011) In this appeal, Costco challenged the district court’s order granting class certification in an action in which Costco’s promotional practices were alleged to have discriminated against female employees. The district court’s order granting class certification preceded the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Wal-Mart… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Sets Oral Arguments in Brinker
Posted in Class Actions, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, News, Wage and HourThe California Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments in the landmark wage-and-hour case Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court on November 8 in San Francisco. In Brinker, the Court will decide whether employers must merely provide meal and rest breaks to their employees or actually ensure that breaks are taken, as well… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Reexamines Class Certification Standards After Dukes v. Walmart
Posted in Class Actions, DiscriminationIn Ellis v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 19060 (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2011), the Ninth Circuit reviewed the standards for class certification in an employment class action following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dukes v. Walmart. In Ellis,three named plaintiffs sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and backpay on behalf of a nationwide… Continue Reading