California Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit Moves to Settle

Los Angeles, CAAn unpaid overtime lawsuit filed by an employee of Animal Behavior College, Inc. (ABC) over allegations of unpaid wages and off the clock work appears to be wrapping up with an application to the Court to grant preliminary approval of a negotiated settlement.

The case is Samuel Barahona v. Animal Behavior College Inc., et al, Case No. 2:15-cv-09584-R-AFM, US District Court, Central District of California, Western Division.

A host of allegations are made, including but not limited to unpaid wages, unpaid overtime (an alleged violation of overtime laws), miscalculation of regular rates of pay, an alleged lack of inclusion of bonus payments in overtime, and off-the-clock work. The latter is the bane of many an employee required to perform tasks, at the behest of the employer, either before their shift begins, or after they ‘clock out’ for the day.

A proposed settlement has been negotiated between the parties, with the plaintiff asking the Court to grant preliminary approval of a settlement class as “all persons employed in California by Animal Behavior College, Inc. as Admissions Counselors at any time during the period between December 11, 2011, up to and including the date the Court grants preliminary approval of the Settlement.”

The proposed settlement amount is identified as $100,000. Once attorney’s fees, litigation costs and other financial liabilities are taken into account, the available funds for actual disbursement to class members are identified as $58,613.

The overtime pay laws class action identified about 40 Admission Counselors employed by the defendant at any one time. The lead plaintiff in the matter regards the settlement amount as fair, reasonable and adequate and has moved to seek the Court’s approval.

The disbursement of the settlement dollars has been identified as representing 30 percent for wages, with the remaining 70 percent for penalties and interest.

The unpaid overtime lawsuit, alleging various violations of California overtime law, identified ABC as a private vocational school offering various training programs that teach clients how to become dog trainers, groomers, as well as training in other vocations in the pet and animal field. The role of the Admissions Counselor is to assist potential students with enrollment in ABC’s programs.

“The Admissions Counselors were paid on an hourly basis and recorded their time in a time tracking system,” the lawsuit asserts. “The Admissions Counselors received additional payments for enrolling students in courses. These payments were referred to either as ‘commissions’ or ‘bonuses.’ Prior to July 1, 2014, ABC did not include the additional commission payments in computing the rate on which overtime was due,” the overtime pay laws class action states.

According to court records, “in 2015, ABC conducted a review of its payroll policies and determined it would pay employees overtime using the commission payments as part of the calculation. ABC then computed the amount of past overtime that was due for prior overtime work and paid that amount unqualified to the employees - that is, it simply sent them checks and did not require any release. On October 30, 2015, ABC paid a total of $186,426 to employees for back wages and interest on those back wages.

“After the $186,426 was paid to the employees, Barahona filed this lawsuit that seeks additional penalties for the failure to pay the wages on time. In addition, this lawsuit alleged that the Admissions Counselors worked off-the-clock. The allegation is that the Admission Counselors were instructed to clock out of the time keeping system, but were still performing work talking to students on the phone.”

The lawsuit also asserts that ABC failed to provide plaintiffs with adequate meal breaks and rest periods.