Batze v. Safeway, Inc., 10 Cal. App. 5th 440 (2017)

Gary Batze, et al., brought this lawsuit against their employer Safeway/Vons for failure to pay overtime wages. The employees alleged that they worked non-managerial tasks that rendered them non-exempt employees. After weeks of trial testimony, the trial court determined that the employees were engaged for more than 50 percent of their work week in managerial tasks and that they met all the other qualifications to be exempt from overtime. The Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the employer had a realistic expectation that its store managers would be involved primarily in exempt work and that the work performed by the employees during a strike did not transform them into non-exempt employees. The Court further held that the statute of limitations was not tolled until the trial court’s order denying class certification was entered.