A class action lawsuit accuses top dairy processor California Dairies of shorting its workers' pay and other violations of California labor law.
The plaintiffs "worked more minutes per shift than Defendants credited them with having worked," says the suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The dairy required workers to "line up and wait to undergo and actually undergo Covid symptom checks, followed by identity verification checks, and,
finally, wait in line at the timeclock; all prior to being able to clock in for the start of their shift," the suit alleges.
The company also required some employees to be on call, but did not pay them unless they were actually called into work, the plaintiffs allege.Workers were also shorted overtime pay, the suit says.
"Employees worked shifts long enough to entitle them to meal periods under California law," the suit states. "Nevertheless, Defendants employed policies,
practices, and/or procedures that resulted in their failure to authorize or permit meal periods."
The company also failed to provide workers with rest periods as required by California law, according to the suit.
"If the employer fails to authorize or permit a required rest period, the employer must pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of
compensation for each workday the employer did not authorize or permit a legally required rest period," the suit states. "Defendants employed policies and procedures which ensured that employees did not receive any rest period premium wages to compensate them for workdays in which they did not receive allegedly required and compliant rest periods."
The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, plus legal fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph Lavi, Vincent C. Granberry and Elizabeth L. Harrier, of the firm of Lavi & Ebrahimian LLP, of Beverly Hills.
Gonzalez v. California Dairies Inc. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1:23-cv-01458