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Background
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Plaintiff and the Class Members are non-exempt production employees such as assemblers working on an assembly line. Defendants require these employees to work long mandatory overtime hours until production goals are met and to work through lawful meal and rest breaks without receiving statutory compensation.
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Plaintiff was employed as an “Assembler,” which is an hourly, non-exempt position. He worked in the “clean room” until 2012 and was later transferred to the “extrusion” department. He often worked 12 hours per day, and rarely received a meal or rest period or second meal period due to Defendant’s strict policies. Specifically, he had to setup up machines from start to finish and watch for parts that are made and put into packaging bags. The machines had to be kept running in order to meet production goals. Employees were unable to leave the machines unattended and could not take breaks unless there was more than one operator and technician on duty. If employees were slow or late to return from break, they would be reprimanded by the supervisor.
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Defendants require meal break waivers as part of hiring new employees and have a pattern and practice of refusing to allow employees to opt out. In or around September 2011, a second meal waiver form was presented to all employees for signature by Defendants. In pertinent part, the waiver states, “I also understand that if I work more than ten (10) hours but not more the twelve (12) hours in a workday, I mutually agree with my employer to the following…” This agreement omitted mandatory permissive language as well as did not inform Plaintiff that an employee cannot waive a second meal period if they waived the first meal period. Employees were also required to waive the first meal period in writing in addition to waiving the second meal period.
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Plaintiff and the Defendants’ non-exempt employees were directed to perform that work while off-the-clock and Defendants knew or should have known that Plaintiffs and class members were performing that work not properly paid for all wages earned and for all wages when working more than eight (8) hours in any given day and/or more than forty (40) hours in any given week.
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In this class action, the Plaintiff is seeking to certify a class of:
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All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendant in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt manufacturing employees.
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Further, Plaintiff seeks to represent the following sub-classes composed of and defined as follows:
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(a) Subclass 1. Overtime Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and were not paid overtime for hours worked beyond eight (8) hours in a single day or for hours worked beyond 40 in a single week pursuant to Labor Code §§ 510, 511, 1194 and 1198.
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(b) Subclass 2.1 Meal Break Subclass 1. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and have not been provided a meal period for every five (5) hours or major fraction thereof worked per day, and were not provided one (1) hour’s pay for each day on which such meal period was not provided pursuant to Labor Code § 226.7 and § 512.
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(c) Subclass 2.2 Meal Break Subclass 2. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and who worked over ten (10) hours in a shift and did not receive a second meal period;
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(d) Subclass 2.3 Meal Break Subclass 3. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and who were required to sign meal waivers as a condition of employment when hired by defendants.
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(e) Subclass 2.3 Meal Break Subclass 4. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and, who signed meal waivers for the second meal and worked over 12 hours in a shift.
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(f) Subclass 3. Rest Period Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and have not been provided a rest period for every three and a half (3.5) hours worked per day, and were not provided compensation of one (1) hour’s pay for each day on which such rest period was not provided pursuant to Labor Code § 226.7 and § 512.
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(g) Subclass 4. Paystub Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and were not provided an itemized statement accurately showing total hours worked, the applicable hourly rates in effect during each pay period and the corresponding hours worked at each rate pursuant to Labor Code § 226 and 1174.
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(h) Subclass 5. Wages Twice Monthly Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and were not provided all wages twice monthly pursuant to Labor Code § 204.
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(i) Subclass 6. Wage Payment Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and were not provided all straight time wages earned pursuant to the Labor Code and applicable IWC Wage Orders.
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(j) Subclass 7. Termination Pay Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, for the four years prior to the filing of this class action to the present, have worked as non-exempt employees and were not provided all wages due upon termination or resignation pursuant to Labor Code §§ 200 through 203.
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(k) Subclass 8. Business & Professions Code § 17200 Subclass. All persons who are employed or have been employed by Defendants in the State of California who, have worked as non-exempt employees and who were subjected to Defendant’s unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business acts or practices in the form of Labor Code violations regarding overtime, meal periods, rest periods, expense reimbursement or minimum wages and/or waiting time penalties.
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Investigation and Counsel Involved
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In furtherance of our investigation efforts, we are looking to interview other employees who experienced similar mistreatment or former employees or former assistant managers who have information regarding this conduct. If you have any questions regarding this case please contact:
Richard E. Quintilone II, Esq.
Quintilone & Associates
22974 El Toro Road, Suite 100
Lake Forest, CA 92630-4961
Telephone: 949.458.9675
Facsimile: 949.458.9679
Email: req@quintlaw.com
Web: www.quintlaw.com
John D. Trieu, Esq.
Law Offices of John D. Trieu, APC
9211 Bolsa Ave., Suite 222
Westminster, CA 92683
Telephone: 714.892.2154 - Chúng tôi nói tiếng Việt
Facsimile: 714.893.6710
E-Mail:john@trieulaw.com
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California employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who participate in wage and hour complaints or investigations. If you feel you have been retaliated against, please feel free to contact any of the above-listed law firms or the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for information. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileRetaliationComplaint.htm
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For additional information on the hearing dates or to examine the file in the case you can go online to http://www.occourts.org/online-services/case-access/ click on Civil Case and Document access and search for 30-2014-0748050-CU-OE-CXC when requested for the Case Number.
