Aleksick v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 205 Cal. App. 4th 1176 (2012)

Kimberly Aleksick, who worked as a clerk at a 7-Eleven store, sued 7-Eleven (the franchisor of the store where Aleksick was employed) for violation of the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”). Aleksick alleged that 7-Eleven, which provides payroll services to its franchisees, violated the UCL by converting any partial hour worked in a pay period from minutes to hundredths of an hour, which sometimes shorted employees a few seconds of time. The trial court granted 7-Eleven’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that Aleksick had failed to allege any statutory predicate for her UCL claim and, in any event, the Labor Code wage statutes govern the employer-employee relationship, and the undisputed evidence showed that 7-Eleven was not the employer of Aleksick or the other class members. The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment against Aleksick.