Parisi & Havens LLP

Brinker v. Superior Court

johnbkim — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:11:40 +0000

Much has been written of the California Supreme Court’s opinion in Brinker v. Superior Court, (April 12, 2012), ___ Cal.4th ___. The Supreme Court addressed many issues and held in part that despite the employer and Court of Appeal’s position that an employer need only “make available” meal periods, under the law “an employer must relieve the employee of all duty for the designated period,” (id. at 27) and this occurs when the “employee (1) has at least 30 minutes uninterrupted, (2) is free to leave the premises, and (3) is relieved of all duty for the entire period.” Id. at 30 (citations omitted).

What hasn’t received as much attention is the Court’s reiteration of the rule that “[i]n many instances, whether class certification is appropriate or inappropriate may be determined irrespective of which party is correct.” Id. at 10. This is significant because in recent time many defendants contend at the time of class certification that the plaintiff must not only establish that the case may be certified, but must prove the merits of their case. The Brinker Court held, however, that the motion for class certification “is not a license for a free-floating inquiry into the validity of the complaint’s allegations; rather, resolution of disputes over the merits of a case generally must be postponed until after class certification has been decided [citation omitted], with the court assuming for purposes of the certification motion that any claims have merit [citation omitted].” Id. at 11.

While the Brinker Court recognized the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, (2011) 564 U.S. __, __, that the merits may be enmeshed with class action requirements, the court found that “[s]uch inquiries are closely circumscribed.” Brinker at 12. Due to the one-way intervention rule, which generally precludes a plaintiff in a class action from moving for summary adjudication prior to certification, “courts generally should eschew resolution of such issues unless necessary.” Id. at 13.

So the Brinker opinion can be seen as not only a win for consumers from a wage and hour law perspective, but also from a class action procedural perspective.

Secret Fees

david — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:29:37 +0000

It seems to happen to all of us. We make a purchase for an airline ticket, hotel room, theater ticket or the like and, when we receive the confirmatory email, or sometimes not until we receive our credit card statement, do we find out that a secret fee was added on of 7.95, 9.95 or some other undisclosed amount. The fees usually end in .95.

Generally the fee is so small that it seems not worth fighting. We fight these fees. If this has happened to you, please contact us.

asd

kycoffman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:52:16 +0000

Some New Case or Law of Note

azita — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:00:37 +0000

[ description of a new case or laws of note ]

Rechargeable Batteries

david — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:58:38 +0000

We are investigating reports that Lithium-Ion Batteries (usually rechargeable batteries for cordless drills) are dying shortly after light or minimal use. If this has happened to you, please contact us.

Swiss Watches

david — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:58:05 +0000

Have you purchased a watch which you believed was made in Switzerland, only to find out it was not?

We are investigating the wrongful labeling of watches. Many people give great value to Swiss made watches. If you purchased a watch labeled Technica Swiss Ebauche, Swiss Made, or Swiss Movement, and believe that the watch was not labeled correctly, we would like to talk to you.

If you would like to discuss this matter with us, please email David Parisi at dcparisi@parisihavens.com. The listing of a company does not imply that the company acted illegally, but only that an investigation by our firm is underway.

$1.00 Buy Out

david — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:16:36 +0000

We are investigating claims that certain businesses fail to honor the terms of their leasing agreements and, in particular, their “$1.00 buy-out” provision. If you have experienced this problem, please contact us.