California Labor Law Settlement Worth $90 Million

Los Angeles, CA It may be split amongst 15,000 employees, but a $90 million settlement sounds impressive nonetheless. The California labor law case, originally filed in 2005 and elevated to class action status four years later, vindicates lead plaintiff Jennifer Augustus and thousands of her colleagues in a dispute against a security company based in New York, but with employees across the country including the state of California.

As noted in the Daily News of Los Angeles (7/11/12), the dispute between Jennifer Augustus and her fellow plaintiffs and ABM Security Services centered on the expectation of being on call while on break. The California labor code mandates that employees are provided with regular meal and rest breaks within their workday??"during which they are not required to perform any work??"unless there are special circumstances.

To that point, the defendant had at one time an exemption in place that allowed for on-duty breaks by their security personnel. However, it has been reported the company failed to seek a renewal when the policy expired.

Augustus worked for ABM in Woodland Hills from 2003 to 2006. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John S. Wiley awarded $89.7 million in wages, interest and penalties, and noted in his ruling, "Put simply, if you are on call, you are not on break. That has been the law for many years."

Even though the class action California labor lawsuit represented workers across the land, the guards involved worked primarily in Southern California and the Bay Area. ABM was based in San Francisco at the time of the ruling. It has been reported they will contest the award.

Assuming the award stands, according to California labor employment law, the payout to the plaintiffs will be founded upon their individual hourly rate of pay, together with their tenure with the firm.

The California and labor law award was for $89.7 million and represents lost wages, interest and penalties.

In a related story, it appears as if wage and hour lawsuits are on the rise, according to the Sacramento Business Journal (7/23/12). While it is a national phenomenon, the trend is also being seen in California, representing California labor employment law cases. Those numbers reflect a total of 7,064 cases filed nationally under the Federal Labor Standards Act for the year ended March 31st, v. 5,302 for 2008. That's a 33 percent increase.

Complaints under California prevailing wage law remain fairly common??"as do issues having to do with misclassification, work performed off the clock and incorrect, or lack of overtime pay for non-exempt workers.