Plancich v. UPS, Inc., 198 Cal. App. 4th 308 (2011)

Larry Plancich sued UPS for failure to pay overtime, meal and rest breaks; failure to keep, maintain and furnish accurate wage statements, and unfair competition, among other claims. The trial court ruled in favor of UPS on the unfair competition claim and a jury found in favor of UPS on the remaining claims. The trial court awarded costs to UPS but then granted Plancich’s motion to strike costs. On appeal, the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment, holding that Code of Civil Procedure § 1032(b) permits a prevailing employer to recover its costs, notwithstanding the one-way fee-shifting provision of Labor Code § 1194, which permits a prevailing employee to recover his or her fees. See also Securitas Sec. Servs. USA, Inc., 197 Cal. App. 4th 115 (2011) (employees who work consecutive overnight shifts do not work a “split shift”); Paton v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 197 Cal. App. 4th 1505 (2011) (genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether a paid eight-week sabbatical was subject to vacation-pay anti-forfeiture rules); Foust v. San Jose Constr. Co., 198 Cal. App. 4th 181 (2011) (employee’s appeal from adverse judgment in breach of contract case was frivolous and warranted entry of sanctions in employer’s favor).