Facts

Jesse Helton and others filed a class and collective action against Factor 5 Inc. and its owners concerning unpaid wages earned in November and December 2008.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Factor 5 was a successful independent developer of video games. However, in 2008, Factor 5 stopped paying its employees, stopped providing benefits to them, and then abruptly laid off all of its employees. The company also failed to pay them for work performed in the preceding two months.

Plaintiffs asserted causes of action for failure to pay wages, failure to pay accrued vacation, violation of the California Labor Code, and breach of contract. Plaintiffs also filed claims for fraudulent conveyance and accounting. Plaintiffs alleged that Factor 5's owners violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as a matter of law by willfully failing to pay plaintiffs and Factor 5's other employees for earned wages, including minimum wage payments.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Factor 5 denied the allegations, and asserted various affirmative defenses. Among those defenses, Factor 5 claimed that it informed its employees that they were in danger of being laid off, and that if they chose to continue working, despite being told they were no longer required to, they risked not being paid.

Result

The court granted partial summary judgment to plaintiffs on one of their FLSA claims, , finding that Factor 5's owners "willfully" failed to pay plaintiffs and Factor 5's other employees, and awarded three of the named plaintiffs $3,354 each on that claim, exclusive of attorney fees and costs.