Virgin America Flight Attendants Allege Violations of California Wage and Hour Laws

About 1,400 Virgin America flight attendants have won their bid for class certification in their minimum wage lawsuit against the airline.

U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar granted certification to the Class of flight attendants who allege the airline violated California wage and hour laws by undercutting their wages for the time they spent before and after flights.

Judge Tigar certified the class of around 1,400 California flight attendants who worked for Virgin America since March 18, 2011.

The judge also certified a California resident subclass and a “waiting time penalties” subclass for former Virgin America flight attendants who ceased working since March 18, 2012.

Flight Attendants Allege Violations of California Wage and Hour Laws

The flight attendants filed this class action lawsuit in 2015, alleging various violations of California wage and hour laws.

The case was later removed to federal court in May 2015, with Virgin America arguing against class certification arguing that the number of flight attendants do not justify certification.

But on Monday, Judge Tigar said that class treatment is superior to other alternatives and cited the plaintiffs’ proposed trial plan as a means to make the case more manageable.

Virgin America had argued against certification, stating that California wage and hour laws do not apply beyond the appropriate territories of the district.

Judge Tigar stated that the territory issue only applies to the resident subclass, and that members who are no longer California residents can still recover unpaid wages for their time worked within the state.

“For this reason, and because every member of the California resident subclass is also a member of the proposed class, the court therefore finds that class certification is appropriate now. If the court later determines that members of the California resident subclass can only recover if their primary job status is in California, the court can feasibly identify those subclass members who have a right to recover by looking to Virgin’s business records,” Judge Tigar wrote.

The flight attendants allege Virgin America did not adequately pay them for the time spent before or after between flights.

This includes time flight attendants spent writing up incident reports, training, and undergoing mandatory drug tests.

The flight attendants also allege Virgin America denied them meal breaks and rest periods, overtime benefits, and did not provide accurate wage statements.

According to Judge Tigar’s order, Virgin America’s compensation policies pay flight attendants for “block time” that applied to the period between leaving and arriving at the gate. This policy does not compensate for work performed while outside of their shift, which includes duties: pre flight briefings, boarding passengers, and “deplaning”.

The Virgin America California Wage and Hour Lawsuit is Bernstein et al. v. Virgin America Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-02277 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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