Appeals Court Tosses CPK Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

California Pizza Kitchen workers have lost their appeal of a 2011 ruling that denied certification of a class action lawsuit accusing CPK of violating state wage and hour laws. The hourly workers were seeking compensation for alleged abuses that included being forced to work off the clock and being denied meal and rest breaks.

On Dec. 30, a three-judge panel from a California Appeals Court upheld the district court’s ruling after finding the workers did not present evidence that CPK had instituted a company-wide policy to enforce the alleged wage and hour violations.

The plaintiffs contended that “the trial court’s order denying class certification should be vacated because it rests on incorrect legal assumptions and incorrect criteria.”

In their unanimous opinion, the panel said they did not find that the lower court, under California Judge Elihu M. Berle, abused its discretion in denying certification of four putative subclasses consisting of workers employed by CPK from 2007 to 2011.

“The record supports the trial court’s determination that common issues of fact and law do not predominate. Therefore, the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying class certification,” the panel penned.

Plaintiffs David Johnson, Jacob Hernandez, Jose Martinez and Jaime Lopez, all non-exempt employees of California Pizza Kitchen Inc., asserted in their proposed class action lawsuit that CPK violated California law with respect to being: (1) forced to work off-the-clock; (2) denied meal breaks; (3) denied rest breaks; and (4) given inaccurate wage statements. However, with 87 employee declarations submitted by plaintiffs, only 42 employees stated that they worked off the clock. Because of this, the judge ruled that the plaintiffs had not shown that common questions predominated.

The wage and hour cases being considered for the consolidated California Pizza Kitchen Wage Class Action Lawsuit are Martinez et al. v. California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Case No. BC37358, Johnson v. California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Case No. BC389448, Cooley v. California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Case No. BC389727, and Hernandez v. California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Case No. BC441231, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

Help for Victims of Wage & Hour Violations

Going up against a large corporation for wage and hour violations can be daunting, but banding together with other victims through a class action lawsuit can save you time, money and resources. If you were forced to work overtime or off the clock without overtime pay, were denied meal breaks, were paid less than minimum wage or suffered some other wage and hour violation, you may have the right to seek back pay and penalties from your current or former employer. Don’t delay though: the statute of limitations under the FLSA is 2 to 3 years, depending on the state. Find out if you qualify by filling out the short form at the Wage & Hour, Overtime Pay Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.