Virgin America Flight Attendants Win Wage and Hour Lawsuit

A group of Virgin America flight attendants won their case on summary judgment, getting a favorable decision from the court without having to go to trial. While the summary judgment was pronounced in July in favor of the flight attendants, the next issue is how much money will be obtained in damages.

The Virgin America flight attendants are requesting that the California federal judge overseeing the case require Virgin America to pay $85 million in penalties, damages and interest.

The summary judgment in the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit alleges that the airline failed to pay for many hours worked and decreased the amount of overtime pay that the employees were entitled to.

The primary portion of the requested payout in the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit would come from restitution, damages, and interest for Virgin’s alleged failure to pay for the hours worked. This makes up more than $18 million for the Class Members involved around the nation and an additional $18 million for a California subclass.

Furthermore, the California subclass of Virgin America flight attendants is seeking $8.4 million for allegedly failing to pay overtime. The lead plaintiff in the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit says that Virgin did not pay flight attendants for all of the time that was required before, after and between flights, for time spent in training, for time undergoing required drug tests, and for time spent writing up incident reports.

The Class in the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit also alleges that Virgin does not allow flight attendants to take rest breaks or meal breaks. They claim Virgin America is responsible for failing to pay minimum wages and overtime. Furthermore, the Virgin America flight attendants who brought forward the lawsuit argue that they never received accurate wage statements.

Class certification occurred in November 2016 for the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit. The Class included California-based flight attendants who worked for the airline after March 18, 2011. At that time, a California resident subclass was also certified for individuals who left the job as of March 18, 2012.

The California subclass stands as California labor laws are more robust than national standards. Other employers in California, like Toms Shoes and Urban Outiftters, have faced similar lawsuits for unpaid wages and workplace violations.

Virgin America Judgment

The judge in the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit had previously rejected Virgin’s efforts to dodge the majority of the suit with their own summary judgment bid.

The judge ruled in January 2017 that California labor law applied to all work that occurred in California, as well as in situations in which employment policies were decided from Virgin’s California headquarters. Since the Virgin America flight attendants’ lawsuit judgment, Virgin Airlines was bought by Alaska Airlines, which is based in Washington.

The judge, later in July, held that previous rulings in the case and the weight of the plaintiffs’ evidence made the flight attendants eligible for summary judgment.

The Virgin America Flight Attendants Lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-02277 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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