Facts

Bartolo Ayala sued Mt. Whitney Dairy and others for Labor Code and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) violations. From about mid-March 2018 to late February 2022, Ayala worked as a cow milker. During that time, he was a non-exempt employee who was paid a combination of salary and hourly wages depending on the type of work he performed for defendants. Mt. Whitney Dairy employed individuals to push and milk cows, clean the milking facilities before and after shirts, and perform other tasks to prepare the dairy products for market.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended defendants' policy and practice pertaining to wages violated Labor laws. For example, because defendants combined shifts, the aggrieved employees were not paid overtime as required. Defendants treated salaried milking work and hourly non-milking work as distinct shifts, but it often occurred back-to-back on the same day, resulting in the employees working more than eight hours for which they were not paid overtime. Moreover, defendants failed to provide employees with mandated rest periods or the second mandated meal period when working over 10 hours in a day. Nor were premiums paid in lieu of those rest and meal periods. Accordingly, plaintiff also asserted claims for failure to: provide and maintain accurate payroll records; timely pay wages due and permit inspection of personnel records.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all material allegations, asserting they complied with all pertinent laws.

Result

The parties settled the PAGA claims for $55,000.