Sumuel v. ADVO, Inc., 155 Cal. App. 4th 1099 (2007)

In this class action, Tiffany Sumuel and Rudy Halim sued ADVO for unpaid overtime, asserting that ADVO’s policy in California of not paying supplemental salary replacement benefits to its sick or disabled managers until after they supplied proof of receipt of SDI benefits violated the “salary basis test” applicable to determining exemption from overtime. The Court affirmed summary judgment in ADVO’s favor, holding that ADVO’s policy qualified as a “bona fide plan, policy or practice of providing compensation for loss of salary occasioned by both sickness and disability” and that it did not violate the salary basis test. Cf. Thomas v. Home Depot USA, Inc., 527 F. Supp. 2d 1003 (N.D. Cal. 2007) (Private Attorney General Act claims are subject to one-year statute of limitations).