California Labor Lawsuit Gets Class-Action Status

Anaheim, CA A California labor lawsuit filed by Walmart truck drivers has been given class-action status in some of its claims against Walmart. The California labor claims against Walmart include allegations that the company violated minimum wage, meal and rest break laws, and waiting time penalties, and also failed to provide accurate wage statements. Although class certification was granted on some of the California labor code claims, it was not granted on claims involving wage statements.

The Walmart lawsuit was filed by truck drivers who alleged the company violated the California Labor Code and other labor laws by not paying minimum wage and by not providing meal and rest breaks. The Trucker (9/17/14) reports that the plaintiffs claim Walmart’s piece-rate pay does not provide minimum wages and does not provide pay for all mandatory duties performed that are related to their work, including time spent washing, fueling, weighing the trucks and completing paperwork.

“The court finds that plaintiffs have met the commonality requirement for the proposed class of drivers,” District Judge Susan Illston wrote in her decision. “While Wal-Mart argues that there are varying circumstances in which individual drivers may be granted pay at the discretion of general transportation managers, this does not negate plaintiffs’ assertion that there is a general default policy, defined in the driver reference and pay manuals, against paying drivers for certain tasks.”

The court also wrote that she found Walmart’s argument that the plaintiffs did not show how they could determine which drivers performed which tasks or how long was spent on those tasks unpersuasive. Judge Illston wrote that there were common questions concerning Walmart’s pay formula, which would allow for class certification regarding wages and wait times.

The court did, however, note that if the class members have major variations in the length of time spent involved in mandatory activities such as paperwork or fueling, that Walmart could move to decertify the class. The plaintiffs’ motion to certify wage statements as a class was denied.

According to court documents, the lawsuit was originally filed in 2008. There are reportedly approximately 500 potential members of the class. The drivers also argued that they are paid $42 for 10-hour layovers.

The lawsuit is Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. C 08-05221, US District Court, Northern District of California.