Gomez v. J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMay 23, 2023
Docket1:15-cv-01489
StatusUnknown

This text of Gomez v. J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc. (Gomez v. J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gomez v. J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc., (E.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MARISOL GOMEZ and IGNACIO CASE NO. 1:15-cv-01489 JLT-BAM OSORIO, on behalf of themselves and all 12 others similarly situated, ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DECERTIFY CLASS 13 Plaintiffs, (Doc. 168)

14 v. ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE 15 J JACOBO FARM LABOR CONTRACTOR, PLAINTIFFS’ EXPERT WITNESS INC.; and DOES 1 through 20, inclusive, (Doc. 167) 16 Defendants. 17 18 This class action lawsuit involves an employment dispute with J. Jacobo Farm Labor 19 Contractor, Inc. The Court certified Plaintiff’s claim that Defendant failed to issue proper 20 itemized wage statements to its employees in violation of California law.1 (Doc. 114.) The Court 21 then modified its original certification order by also certifying Plaintiff’s claim that Defendant 22 failed to pay its employees for rest breaks in violation of California law.2 (Doc. 126.) The Court 23 further modified its order by setting the class period end date for the certified rest break class to 24 25 1 The class is defined as follows: “All individuals who were employed as a nonexempt field worker or agricultural 26 worker from September 30, 2012, to November 5, 2019, by J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc.”

27 2 The Court also certified Plaintiff’s derivative claims—namely, Plaintiff’s Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act of 1983 (“MAWPA”) claim, accurate itemized wage statement claim, wages upon 28 termination/resignation claim, and unfair business practices claim—because liability for these claims hinges on 1 November 5, 2019.3 (Doc. 138.) 2 Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Decertify and Motion in Limine to Exclude 3 Plaintiff’s Expert Witness. (Doc. 167; Doc. 168.) Defendant’s Motion to Decertify seeks 4 decertification of Plaintiff’s rest break pay claim but not the wage statement claim. Plaintiff filed 5 Opposition briefs, (Doc. 171; Doc. 172.), and Defendant filed Reply briefs. (Doc. 173; Doc. 174.) 6 The Court found the matters suitable for decision without oral arguments, and the hearing on same 7 was vacated. (Doc. 175.) For the reasons below, the Court DENIES Defendant’s Motion in 8 Limine and DENIES Defendant’s Motion to Decertify the class. 9 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 10 The original certification order includes a detailed recitation of facts relevant to the 11 certified classes. (Doc. 114 at 1-9.) The facts in the original certification order control and remain 12 unchanged. For purposes of this order, the Court will summarize additional facts relevant to 13 Defendant’s Motion to Decertify and Motion in Limine. 14 Defendant is a farm labor contractor. It employed at least 3,267 employees between 15 December 20, 2011, and January 6, 2018. Some of the employees worked as field workers. For 16 the most part, Defendant allowed the employees to decide when to take breaks and the length of 17 the breaks. A significant contingent of the class elected to forego their rest breaks by working 18 through the provided rest breaks. 19 Of Defendant’s 3,267 employees, 2,868 employees (or 87.8%) were paid on a piece-rate 20 basis at some point during their employment. Of those 2,868 piece-rate employees, 2,320 21 employees (or 80.1%) were paid with checks that did not include any payment for rest breaks. 22 Some but not all employees were paid retroactively by Defendant by check for unpaid break and 23 non-productive time. Defendant appears to have payment records identifying the employees who 24 were given retroactive “safe harbor” payments and minimum wage true ups. Defendant also 25 provided its employees with wage statements, some of which failed to include information about 26

27 3 The rest break claim and derivative claims class is defined as follows: “All individuals who have been employed, or are currently employed, by Defendant as a non-exempt “field worker” or agricultural worker, who worked on a piece 28 rate basis at any time from September 30, 2011, to November 5, 2019, and were not separately compensated for rest 1 rest breaks and rest payments. Defendant universally applied the same system and practices for 2 wage statements to all employees. 3 Defendant used a software called Datatech to process and maintain payroll records. 4 Plaintiffs designated Aaron Woolfson as an expert witness in this action to “provide structure to, 5 and analyze time keeping and payroll data” produced from Defendant’s Datatech records. (Doc. 6 168-1 at 8-9.) In his expert report, Woolfson states that the Datatech records “indicate that 100% 7 of checks dated before 2/27/2016 which involved piece-work [or approximately 2,275 checks] did 8 not have any payment for rest periods.” (Id. at 11, 15.) Woolfson’s report further states he 9 “created the damage formulas and assumptions that will transform all of Defendants data into 10 damages which [he] will present at trial.” (Id. at 13.) Defendant designated Joseph Krock as a 11 rebuttal expert to provide comment regarding “claims made by Mr. Woolfson” and “his 12 qualifications as an expert witness in matters similar to this.” (Doc. 168-1 at 237.) 13 LEGAL STANDARD 14 1. Decertification 15 District courts retain the “flexibility to address problems with a certified class as they arise, 16 including the ability to decertify.” United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Mfg. Energy v. 17 ConocoPhillips Co., 593 F.3d 802, 809 (9th Cir. 2010). “Even after a certification order is 18 entered, the judge remains free to modify it in the light of subsequent developments in the 19 litigation.” Id. (citing General Tel. Co. of the Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 160 (1982)); see also 20 Rodriguez v. West Publ’g Corp., 563 F.3d 948, 966 (9th Cir. 2009) (“A district court may 21 decertify a class at any time.”). In resolving a motion for class decertification, the court may rely 22 on “previous substantive rulings in the context of the history of the case,” “subsequent 23 developments in the litigation,” and “the nature and range of proof necessary to establish the class- 24 wide allegations.” Munoz v. Phh Mortg. Corp., 478 F. Supp. 3d 945, 985 (E.D. Cal. 2020) (citing 25 Arredondo v. Delano Farms Co., 301 F.R.D. 493, 502 (E.D. Cal. 2014)). The standard is the same 26 for class decertification as it is with class certification: a district court must be satisfied that the 27 requirements of Rules 23(a) and (b) are met to allow plaintiffs to maintain the action on a 28 representative basis. Marlo v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 639 F.3d 942, 947 (9th Cir. 2011). 1 2. Rule 234 2 Under Rule 23(b)(3), a plaintiff must demonstrate “that the questions of law or fact 3 common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members.” 4 Castillo v. Bank of Am., NA, 980 F.3d 723, 730 (9th Cir. 2020) (citing Mazza v. Am. Honda Motor 5 Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 596 (9th Cir. 2012)). Rule 23(b)(3)’s “predominance” requirement 6 inquires into whether the class members’ interests are “sufficiently cohesive to warrant 7 adjudication by representation.” Amchem Prods. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 623 (1997). The 8 inquiry focuses on “the relationship between the common and individual issues” and “tests 9 whether proposed classes are sufficiently cohesive to warrant adjudication by representation.” 10 Hanlon v.

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Bluebook (online)
Gomez v. J. Jacobo Farm Labor Contractor, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gomez-v-j-jacobo-farm-labor-contractor-inc-caed-2023.