Curry v. Equilon Enterprises, LLC, 2018 WL 1959472 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018)

Sadie Curry worked as a gas station manager at a station owned by Shell Oil, but operated by another company (ARS). Curry was hired, trained and supervised by ARS employees, and ARS alone determined that Curry was an exempt employee. In this putative class action, Curry alleged that she and the other managers were misclassified as exempt employees and that Shell was their joint employer along with ARS. The trial court granted Shell’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that although Shell may have exercised some control over the way in which ARS managed the gas stations, there was no evidence that Shell exercised any direct control over Curry’s wages, hours or working conditions. The Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal.