California Court of Appeal

In this putative class action, plaintiff healthcare workers assert that their hospital employer violated the Labor Code by illegally letting their healthcare employees waive their second meal periods on shifts longer than 12 hours. An order of the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC), however, authorizes employees in the healthcare industry to waive one of their two required meal periods on shifts longer than 8 hours. The trial court's decision granting summary judgment in favor of defendant and denying class certification to plaintiffs is reversed and the case is remanded, where: 1) the IWC order is partially invalid to the extent it authorizes second meal break waivers on shifts longer than 12 hours; and 2) the retroactive application of this conclusion must be litigated on remand.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/10/2015
• Published 02/10/2015

Judges

• Thompson

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel