Class Action California Labor Lawsuits Seek Compensation

San Mateo, CAThe plaintiff in a California labor lawsuit that alleged various violations against California labor law, last month faced a motion by the defendant to have the lawsuit tossed out of federal court beacause the Court, in the defendant’s view lacked jurisdiction in a case that belongs in California state court, or so it was claimed.

The defendant in the California labor lawsuit is SolarCity Corp. (SolarCity), a solar energy enterprise based in San Mateo. The plaintiff, identified as Breana Daugherty, serves as the lead plaintiff in a proposed class action lawsuit. Allegations include, but are not limited to non-payment of wages reflecting federal and state minimums for all hours worked, as well as allegations that SolarCity failed to issue accurate and timely wage statements.

SolarCity, in late November, argued that given that all parties are based in California, the California labor lawsuit thus belongs in state court. SolarCity petitioned the Court to have the lawsuit dismissed.

“Plaintiff brings this employee wage and hour class action on behalf of California citizens, against a California-based corporation, for claims arising under California state laws,” SolarCity said, in Court documents. “Illogically, rather than bring this case in a California state court where it belongs, plaintiff improperly invokes federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act [CAFA], [but] has failed to meet her burden to properly plead jurisdiction under CAFA.”

There was no word at press time as to the outcome of the defendant’s motion to dismiss the proceedings.

According to Court documents Daugherty was employed by SolarCity for a period of about four months, commencing her job as a sales specialist in June, 2015. Her California labor code class action was filed in federal court this past September. Daugherty’s proposed class action lawsuit seeks to represent any and all employees of SolarCity who served as inside energy specialists for the California Corporation over a four-year period ending with the date at which the lawsuit was filed.

The case is Breana Daugherty et al. v. SolarCity Corp., Case No. 3:16-cv-5155, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

In an unrelated case, a California labor code lawsuit was recently brought against the Einstein Noah Restaurant Group for failure to pay correct amounts of overtime pay in accordance with California labor law, amongst other claims.

The proposed class action is Aaron Yi et al v. Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. Case No. 16-cv-303146, filed November 23rd of this year in The Superior Court of the State of California in and for The County of Santa Clara.