California Court of Appeal

In plaintiffs' suit on behalf of themselves and a putative class of newspaper carriers, claiming that their employer improperly classified them as independent contractors rather than employees and violated California labor laws, trial court's denial of plaintiffs' motion for class certification is: 1) reversed as to its finding that the independent contractor-employee issue is not amenable to class treatment where all of the carriers perform the same job under virtually identical contracts, and variations simply constitute common evidence that tends to show defendant's lack of control over certain aspects of the carriers' work; but 2) affirmed as to the court's finding that plaintiffs' claims of overtime, meal, and rest period violations were not amenable to class treatment where plaintiffs cannot establish these claims through common proof.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/17/2012
• Published 10/17/2012

Judges

• Willhite

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel