Antwoine Taylor v. Amazon.com Services LLC

District Court, E.D. California·Decided January 27, 2025·No. 1:24-cv-01165·Unknown

Opinion

ANTWOINE TYRONE TAYLOR, No. 1:24-cv-01165-KES-BAM CAROLINE DELTORAL, and NATIVIDAD M. QUILLIN individuals, on ORDER DENYING AMAZON’S MOTION behalf of themselves and others similarly TO DISMISS, GRANTING AMAZON’S situated, MOTION TO STAY, AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE Plaintiffs, (Doc. Nos. 26, 27) v.

AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, Defendants. This matter is before the Court on (1) the motion to dismiss or stay filed by defendant Amazon.com Services LLC (“Amazon”) on October 23, 2024, and (2) the motion to consolidate this case with Trevino v. Golden State FC LLC, Lead Case No. 1:18-cv-00120-KES-BAM (E.D. Cal.) (“the Trevino action”) filed by plaintiffs Antwoine Tyrone Taylor, Caroline Deltoral, and Natividad M. Quillin on November 6, 2024. (Docs. 26, 27.) For the reasons explained below, Amazon’s motion to dismiss is denied, its motion to stay is granted, and plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate is denied. A. Procedural Background On July 2, 2024, plaintiffs Taylor, Deltoral, and Quillin filed a putative class action complaint in the San Bernardino Superior Court against Amazon on behalf of themselves and all non-exempt, hourly employees in California who worked for Amazon during the proposed class period. (Doc. 1-3 at 2, 4, 19.) The complaint alleged that Amazon violated provisions of the California Labor Code, relevant orders of the California Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”), and California Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq. (Id. at ¶ 1.) Amazon removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 15, 2024. (Docs. 1; 1-9 at 2.) Plaintiffs subsequently filed a first amended complaint (“FAC”) on September 23, 2024. (Docs. 16–18.) The district court in the Central District of California granted the parties’ stipulated request to transfer this action to this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and the first-to-file rule. (Doc. 22.) The court found that the plaintiffs in Trevino “raise factual and legal issues that are substantially similar (and in some instances, identical) to this one and assert claims against the same defendant.” (Id. at 2; see also Doc. 20 at 2.) The case was transferred to this Court on October 2, 2024. (Doc. 23.) Thereafter, on October 23, 2024, Amazon filed its motion to dismiss or stay this case, or in the alternative, to dismiss plaintiffs’ eleventh cause of action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 12(b)(6).1 (Doc. 26.) On November 6, 2024, plaintiffs filed a motion to

1 Amazon relatedly asks the Court to take judicial notice of its exhibits A–Q. (Doc. 26-2.) Exhibits A–B, D–H, J, L–N, and P–Q, are the operative complaints in thirteen earlier filed wage and hour class actions pending against Amazon. (Id. at 4.) Exhibits C, I, K, and O are orders from four of these cases. (Id.) A court may “judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: (1) is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). Courts may “take judicial notice of undisputed matters of public record, Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 689 (9th Cir. 2001), including documents on file in federal or state courts.” Harris v. Cnty. of Orange, 682 F.3d 1126, 1132 (9th Cir. 2012). Here, all of Amazon’s exhibits are in the public record, and their existence is not subject to reasonable dispute. Accordingly, Amazon’s request for judicial notice is granted. The Court takes judicial notice of these pleadings and their existence, but not the truth of the allegations contained therein. consolidate this case for all purposes with the Trevino action pursuant to FRCP 42(a). (Doc. 27.) Both motions are fully briefed and the Court heard argument on the motions on January 21, 2025. (Docs. 28–31, 35.) B. Factual Background As alleged in the FAC, plaintiff Taylor “was employed by Defendants as a packer with duties including unloading trailers, holding the trailer, and packing shipments.” (Doc. 18 at ¶ 2.) Plaintiff Deltoral “is employed by Defendants as an Order Picker with duties including picking orders, placing merchandise back into bins, and sorting through merchandise in the bins and delivering it to appropriate warehouse locations.” (Id.) Plaintiff Quillin “was employed by Defendants as a warehouse associate with duties including picking and packing and scanning and sorting packages and products for delivery to Defendants’ customers.” (Id.) “Plaintiffs were assigned to work in California and in the Riverside and San Bernardino County areas during the relevant time period, and Plaintiffs and the similarly situated Class members worked at various locations throughout California.” (Id.) Based on the allegations summarized below, the FAC asserts the following California state law causes of action against Amazon: (1) failure to pay minimum wages; (2) failure to pay wages and overtime under Labor Code § 510; (3) meal period liability under Labor Code § 226.7; (4) rest break liability under Labor Code § 226.7; (5) failure to pay all sick leave pay in violation of Labor Code § 246; (6) failure to provide accurate wage statements in violation of Labor Code § 226(a); (7) unlawfully collecting wages from employees in violation of Labor Code § 221; (8) failure to pay all wages owed in violation of Labor Code § 204; (9) failure to pay wages when due in violation of Labor Code § 203; (10) failure to maintain temperatures under the IWC Wage Orders; (11) violation of Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq.; and (12) a California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claim seeking penalties pursuant to Labor Code § 2698 et. seq. (Doc. 18 at ¶¶ 52–139.) According to plaintiffs, their claims “generally fall into four categories: (1) unpaid wages, (2) meal periods and rest breaks, (3) failure to maintain reasonable temperatures, and (4) derivative claims.” (Doc. 28 at 5.) As to unpaid wages, plaintiffs assert various theories of off-the-clock work that they allege led to Amazon failing to pay them “all wages due.” (Doc. 18 at ¶¶ 3, 9, 53, 66.) First, plaintiffs allege off-the-clock work resulting from security screening. (Id. ¶ 11.) Plaintiffs allege Amazon forced them to undergo “exit security checks and screenings” after they clocked out, which entailed waiting in line to pass through a metal detector or to be “wanded” by Amazon’s security personnel and then submitting to a bag search. (Id.) Plaintiffs allege this process took “around 5 minutes to complete each time,” for which they were uncompensated. (Id. at ¶ 11; see also id. at ¶¶ 16–17.) Second, plaintiffs claim that from approximately March of 2020 to March of 2023 Amazon “required [e]mployees to undergo COVID screenings and temperature checks before [they] clocked in for their daily work shifts,” which resulted in “approximately 2–3 minutes per day” of uncompensated time under Amazon’s control. (Id. at ¶ 12.) Third, plaintiffs allege Amazon underpaid overtime wages by failing to include “performance based bonuses and shift differentials” in the regular rate calculation. (Id. at ¶¶ 14, 16.) Plaintiffs also claim Amazon failed to pay “shift premiums” to class members who worked night shifts, (id. at ¶ 12), and that Amazon “either failed to pay

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