Guerrero v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

231 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15738, 2017 WL 1255777
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedFebruary 3, 2017
DocketCase No. 1:16-CV-1300-LJO-JLT
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 231 F. Supp. 3d 797 (Guerrero v. Halliburton Energy Services, 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
Guerrero v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., 231 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15738, 2017 WL 1255777 (E.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

[800]*800MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER RE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS AND/OR STRIKE

(ECF No. 13)

Lawrence J. O’Neill, UNITED STATES CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE

This is a putative class action lawsuit brought by Plaintiff Luis Guerrero, who was formerly employed by Defendant Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. as a “a nonexempt truck worker, industrial worker, industrial truck driver, industrial vehicle driver, industrial, worker and/or any similar job designation,” on behalf of himself and similarly situated individuals, against Defendant and Does 1-100, inclusive (collectively, “Defendants”). ECF No. 1-1 (“Complaint”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated provisions of the California Labor Code (“CLC”), Business and Professions Code (“CBPC”), and several of the Industrial Welfare Commission’s Wage Orders for at least four years prior to the 2016 filing of this action and continuing to the present. Id.

Defendant first moved to dismiss and/or strike the Complaint on September 9, 2016. ECF No. 4. The Court granted in part and denied in part Defendant’s motion, and granted Plaintiff leave to amend. ECF No. 10.

Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on November 22, 2016, setting forth the following causes of action: (1) failure to pay wages owed for all hours worked in violation of CLC § 1197.1, items 1 and 4(b) of Industrial Wage Commission Wage Order (‘Wage Order”) 9-2001 (codified at 8 C.C.R. § 11090) and the California Supreme Court’s decision in Morillion v. Royal Packing Co. (2000), 22 Cal.4th 575, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 3, 995 P.2d 139; (2) failure to pay overtime wages when employees worked over eight hours per day or forty hours per week, in violation of item 3(A) of Wage Order 9-2001; (3) failure to provide meal periods or compensation in lieu thereof, in violation of CLC §§ 226.7 & 512; (4) failure to authorize and permit rest periods, in violation of CLC § 226.7, Wage Order Nos. 9-1998, 9-2000, 9-2001(12); (5) failure to pay all wages due at the time of termination from employment, in violation of CLC §§ 201-203; and (6) “violation of unfair competition law,” in violation of CBPC § 17200, et seq., commonly known as California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”). ECF No. 12 ¶¶ 85-172.

Defendant now moves to dismiss Plaintiffs second, third, fourth, and sixth causes of action for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)1, and to strike some of the prayers for relief in the FAC pursuant to Rule 12(f).2 ECF No. 13. Plaintiff filed his opposition (ECF No. 15) and Defendant replied (ECF No. 17). This matter is appropriate for resolution without oral argument. See E.D. Cal. L.R. 230(g).

Having reviewed the record and the parties’ briefing in light of the relevant law, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendant’s motion.

[801]*801LEGAL STANDARD

I. Rule 12(b)(6)

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is a challenge to the sufficiency of the allegations set forth in the complaint. Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is proper where there is either a “lack of a cognizable legal theory” or “the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dept., 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). In considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the court generally accepts as true the allegations in the complaint, construes the pleading in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, and resolves all doubts in the pleader’s favor. Lazy Y. Ranch Ltd. v. Behrens, 546 F.3d 580, 588 (9th Cir. 2008).

To survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the Plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal citations omitted). Thus, “bare assertions ... amounting] to nothing more than a ‘formulaic recitation of the elements’ ... are not entitled to be assumed true.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 681, 129 S.Ct. 1937. “[T]o be entitled to the presumption of truth, allegations in a complaint ... must contain sufficient allegations of underlying facts to give fair notice and to enable the opposing party to defend itself effectively.” Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1216 (9th Cir. 2011). In practice, “a complaint.. .must contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements necessary to sustain recovery under some viable legal theory.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 562, 127 S.Ct. 1955. To the extent that the pleadings can be cured by the allegation of additional facts, a plaintiff should be afforded leave to amend. Cook, Perkiss and Liehe, Inc. v. Northern Cal. Collection Serv., Inc., 911 F.2d 242, 247 (9th Cir. 1990) (citations omitted).

Finally, in ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, “[a] court may take judicial notice of [undisputed] matters of public record’ without converting a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment.” Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 689 (9th Cir. 2001); see also Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007) (“courts must consider the complaint in its entirety, as well as other sources courts ordinarily examine when ruling on Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss, in particular, documents incorporated into the complaint by reference, and matters of which a court may take judicial notice.”). Moreover, the court is permitted to consider matters that are proper subjects of judicial notice under Rule 201 of the Federal Rules of Evidence

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231 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15738, 2017 WL 1255777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guerrero-v-halliburton-energy-services-inc-caed-2017.