Judge Okays $5.6M Settlement in California Meal and Rest Breaks Lawsuit

A California meal and rest breaks lawsuit has reached a tentative settlement of $5.6 million after a preliminary approval was granted on Nov. 27 by U.S. Federal Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James.

The lawsuit, which was initiated in April of 2015, started in the California State judicial system but was moved to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in May of that same year.

The California meal and rest breaks lawsuit, started by plaintiff Earl F., named Staffmark Holdings Inc., CEVA Logistics U.S., and CBS Personnel Services LLC as defendants in the case. Earl alleges CEVA Logistics U.S. was a joint employer with the staffing agencies. Originally Amazon was included as a defendant but that was dropped within three months of the first filing of the complaint.

Earl F., seeking appointment as class representative in this collective California meal and rest breaks lawsuit, alleged that the staffing companies did not give logistics workers what was legally their right—namely, paid meal periods in lieu of off-the-clock breaks, overtime wages, and guaranteed minimum wages.

According to the preliminary approval order by Judge James, the $5.6M settlement is considered fair in her mind because it was reached after a considerable period of discovery between Staffmark and the logistics workers.

She also considered it fair because a lot of time was spent in professional mediation between the two parties at legal odds.

The plaintiff and class representative, Earl F., in this California meal and rest breaks lawsuit, sought certification of a Class of 4,400 prior to seeking this preliminary approval.

He also sought appointment of hie attorneys from Setareh Law Group named formally as class counsel. The requested fees for class counsel of the $5.6 million settlement will equal about one-third of the total, which according to the judge is a high percentage but on par with other wage and hour lawsuits.

If the court grants final approval, the settlement would provide Class Members with benefits based on the number of weeks they worked for Staffmark and CBS at locations in California. As representative to the Class, Earl F. will earn $10,000 of the total as well.

Judge James sought estimates and found that the claims presented by the workers could reasonably be expected to be between $5 million and $7 million, making the settlement a conservative approximation of what would be gained if the California meal and rest breaks lawsuit went to trial.

The settlement does not resolve every claim raised in this California meal and rest breaks lawsuit. Claims against CEVA that do not also apply to CBS and Staffmark will continue to be litigated.

The California Meal and Rest Breaks Lawsuit is Case No 3:15-cv-02315, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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