Figueroa v. Northridge Hosp. Med. Ctr., 134 Cal. App. 4th 10 (2005)

One year after she filed suit against Northridge Hospital for discrimination and failure to accommodate her pregnancy, among other things, Raquel Figueroa requested leave to file an amended complaint to include class action claims for failure to pay wages and unfair business practices on behalf of all current and former nurses and other non-exempt employees. The trial court denied Figueroa’s motion to amend on the grounds that she had unreasonably delayed and that defendants would be prejudiced because they already had engaged in costly discovery proceedings and two costly private mediations. The Court of Appeal held that the denial of a motion to amend is not an appealable order and dismissed Figueroa’s appeal. (The Court noted that Figueroa could have sought timely review of the trial court’s order by filing a writ petition, which she had failed to do.) Cf. Mpoyo v. Litton Electro-Optical Sys., 430 F.3d 985 (9th Cir. 2005) (employee’s later-filed FLSA and FMLA claims were barred by the res judicata doctrine).