Taylor Farms Employees to Recover $5.3M in Class Action Settlement

A $5.3 million settlement agreement entered into by employees of Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. and the California-based food producer to resolve allegations of California labor law violations was preliminarily approved by a California federal judge.

The class action lawsuit was commenced in the San Joaquin County Superior Court by Taylor Farms employees Maria D., Consuelo H., Leticia S., Rosemary D., and Wendell M., who worked at two of the production facilities located in Tracy, California. On June 26, 2013, the action was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

The Class Action Settlement

Following seven years of litigation, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller granted preliminary approval of the class action settlement reached between Taylor Farms employees and their employer on Nov. 2, 2020, more than a year after it was first denied in August 2019.

Judge Mueller initially disallowed the proposed settlement based upon her determination that the plaintiffs failed to explain the commonality of the proposed Class or provide details concerning the “likely recovery of each claim.” Accordingly, the judge decided that it could not be ascertained whether the amount of the settlement was reasonable at the time — she allowed the plaintiffs an opportunity to file a renewed motion.

Ultimately, four subclasses of Taylor Farms employees were certified comprising a total of 4,000 current and former workers at the facilities, including a “donning and doffing” subclass, a “mixed hourly worker” subclass, a “waiting time penalties” subclass, and a “wage statement” subclass.

Judge Mueller stated in the order granting preliminary approval of the settlement that although the workers in the “donning and doffing” subclass might require different amounts of time to change into and out of their protective gear, their interests were similar in that they sought compensation for their unpaid work time, and preliminarily approved it for settlement.

The judge also said in the order that the Taylor Farms employees showed that the settlement was reasonable, stating, “In their renewed motion, plaintiffs have now more completely explained how all of the claims are accounted for in the settlement.”

While the “realistic exposure” of the claims was estimated to be $13.5 million, the judge said the court was satisfied that the $5.3 million settlement would allow the class to recover 39% of it, stating that the amount was “reasonable given that settlement avoids the risks, expense and delay of litigation.” The settlement amount also included $1.8 million in attorney fees.

What Were the Labor Law Violations Alleged by the Taylor Farms Employees?

The class action lawsuit raised a number of claims alleging violations of California labor laws, including Taylor Farms’ failure to provide its employees with pay for all hours worked and timely pay wages at the time of termination.

According to the claims raised in the seventh amended complaint, workers were not paid for the time it took them to put on and take off their protective equipment and sanitize it despite the tasks being part of their required duties. The lawsuit alleged that the employees were entitled to overtime premiums for the “off the clock” time they spent “donning and doffing.”

Under California Labor Law, employers are required to provide employees with one and a half times their regular pay rate for any hours worked over eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a workweek. Employees must also be paid for “waiting time” that is controlled by their employer.

The complaint also asserted that Taylor Farms failed to provide itemized wage statements under California law. In California, employers must be provided with semimonthly wage statements, or statements at the time wages are paid, specifying (1) the gross wages, (2) total hours worked, (3) number of piece-rate units earned, (4) all deductions, (5) net wages earned, (6) inclusive time period for the wages, (7) employee’s name and social security number, (8) the employer’s name and address, and (9) the applicable hourly rates that are in effect during the pay period.

The complaint further alleged that Taylor Farms denied their employees the opportunity to take lawfully entitled meal and rest breaks in accordance with the California Labor Law requiring employees to be off-duty during meal periods unless the break is waived.

By law, employees in California are entitled to a thirty-minute meal break for the first five hours worked, unless the workday is less than six hours. A second meal break is required for shifts of ten hours or more but can be waived by mutual consent if the total amount of time worked doesn’t exceed twelve hours. California employees are also entitled to a ten-minute rest break for every four hours worked.

The Taylor Farms Employees Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 13-cv-2382, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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