Castillo v. DHL Express (USA), Inc., 243 Cal. App. 4th 1186 (2015)

Henry Castillo filed this putative class action based on alleged violations of the wage and hour laws. The trial court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss based on plaintiff’s failure to bring the case to trial within five years. In opposition, Castillo contended that the running of the five-year period was tolled by operation of law while the parties pursued private mediation. The trial court rejected Castillo’s tolling argument, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that because the trial court did not order and the parties did not stipulate to submit the case to mediation pursuant to Cal. Rule of Court 3.891, it was properly dismissed under the five-year rule.