Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued an order depublishing the Court of Appeal's opinion in Bartoni v. American Medical Response West, 11 Cal.App.5th 1084 (2017). Under Rule of Court 8.1115, the opinion is no longer a citable precedent.
In Bartoni, the plaintiffs alleged that their employer required them to remain "on call" at all times, including during all meal periods. The trial court denied their motion for class certification, holding that an "on-call" meal period was compliant unless actually interrupted, and that as a result, non-common questions predominated. The Court of Appeal agreed, and affirmed. 11 Cal.App.5th at 1092, 1101-02. (The Court of Appeal reversed a similar ruling as to the rest break claim. Id. at 1102.)
The depublication requests, one of which was filed by yours truly, argued that this holding was inconsistent with Augustus and Brinker, which together held that meal periods (and rest breaks), to be compliant, must be entirely "off-duty," and that an "on-call" meal period (or rest break) is not an "off-duty" one. See Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., 2 Cal.5th 257, 269-72 (2016) (citing Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1039-40 (2012)).
The Bartoni opinion was reminiscent of several post-Brinker opinions that the Supreme Court depublished in 2012 and 2013. See these blog posts for more on those depublication orders. [Disclosure: I am co-counsel of record for the plaintiffs in Bartoni.]
Great work Kimberly! Thank you for your efforts to make sure California employees get breaks. Especially ambulance drivers who need their rest.
Posted by: Annette Morasch | Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 11:22 AM