Facts

Israel Castanada worked for Joseph Lopez Parking Maintenance in Los Angeles. He was in charge of maintaining the upkeep of numerous parking lots. Castanada, who was in his 30s, worked for Lopez from 2001 to 2004, at which time he decided to leave the company. Castanada returned to Lopez seeking his last paycheck. Lopez paid Castanada in cash. The paycheck did not reflect wages for overtime. Castanada filed a lawsuit against Lopez dba Joseph Lopez Parking Maintenance, claiming Lopez violated the California Labor Code by withholding his overtime wages.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff claimed that while employed by the defendant for a three-year period, he worked approximately 60-hour weeks and did not receive any overtime wages. The plaintiff, who claimed he had been paid in cash, did not have written documentation to support his claim that he worked for the defendant for a three-year period. Instead, the plaintiff presented testimony of employees who worked with him. The employees supported his claim that he worked for the defendant from 2001 to 2004 and put in overtime hours. The plaintiff also presented pictures taken of him at work in 2001.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
With the support of written documentation, the defendant took the position that the plaintiff had only worked for him for four months as opposed to three years. In addition, defendant claimed that the plaintiff was not entitled to overtime wages because he only worked 40-hour weeks.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff demanded $50,000.

Specials in Evidence

$30,000 reflecting lost overtime wages pursuant to California Labor Code calculations.

Result

$59,976. The defendant was penalized for failing to pay the plaintiff and was ordered to pay the plaintiff's attorney fees. The plaintiff received three years of lost overtime wages calculated at an hourly time-and-a-half rate.