Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 17, 2024
DocketG062534
StatusUnpublished

This text of Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3 (Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Filed 12/17/24 Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

ALEXA HUDSON,

Plaintiff and Appellant, G062534

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2020- 01143610) REGENCY AIR, LLC, OPINION Defendant and Respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, James L. Crandall, Judge. Affirmed. Law Office of Corbett H. Williams and Corbett H. Williams for Plaintiff and Appellant. Cone & Kassel and John A. Cone, Jr., for Defendant and Respondent. Plaintiff Alexa Hudson was employed by defendant Regency Air, LLC (Regency Air), where she was paid a salary, worked Monday through Friday in the office, and sometimes was on call during the weekend. Following a bench trial, the trial court awarded Hudson, inter alia, overtime compensation for the hours she worked while on call. On appeal, Hudson argues the trial court should have awarded her overtime compensation for the entire time she was on call. She also argues the trial court erred in denying waiting time penalties under Labor Code section 203 (all undesignated statutory references are to this code) and denying liquidated damages under section 1194.2. We disagree and conclude the trial court did not err. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Regency Air is a private jet chartering business. From August 2018 to July 2019, Hudson worked as a finance assistant and charter sales representative at Regency Air. She was paid an annual salary of $45,000, plus $100 per charter booking. She worked at Regency Air’s facility at John Wayne Airport Monday through Friday. Hudson also occasionally was on call. Hudson’s employment offer letter, which she signed, stated the following regarding on-call shifts: “As part of my job duties, I am scheduled to work an on-call shift during every other week. This was explained to me at the time I was hired. The work performed during this on-call period consists of answering the phone after business hours, and if necessary, inputting scheduling information remotely on the company iPad. The amount of actual work performed during my on- call shift varies[,] but it can range from a minimal amount of time, to as much as 15 hours per week. I understand that I will immediately notify my supervisor in writing at any time in which my on-call hours reach 15 hours in

2 any single week. [¶] When I am on[ ]call, I am not required to be at the Regency Air offices, and I am generally unrestricted as to my activities. I am free to shop, go to dinner, sleep, and generally go any place or perform my own pursuits, provided that I am sober and can receive a call and otherwise communicate on my mobile phone, and, if necessary, remotely access the company computer within a reasonable period of time. With permission from my supervisor, and at the discretion of [Regency Air,] I may also be permitted to change on-call schedules with other employees in order to permit flexibility to engage in personal activities. [¶] I understood at the time that I was hired, that performing on-call duties was part of my job requirements. I also understand and agree that my compensation is intended to include and compensate me for the estimated time I would actually work while on[ ]call in an amount up to 15 hours for each week.” In May 2020, Hudson filed her complaint against Regency Air. Hudson asserted causes of action for: (1) failure to pay minimum, straight, and overtime wages in violation of sections 510, 1194, and 1197; (2) failure to pay meal break premiums in violation of sections 226.7 and 512, subdivision (a); (3) failure to pay rest break premiums in violation of section 226.7; (4) failure to furnish wage statements consistent with the requirements of section 226; (5) failure to reimburse necessary expenses in violation of section 2802; (6) failure to timely pay all wages due upon termination in violation of sections 201, 202, and 203; and (7) unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices in violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq. In April 2022, the trial court granted summary adjudication in favor of Hudson on two issues: (1) Regency Air owed a duty to pay overtime compensation to Hudson in 2019 because she was a nonexempt employee (the trial court did not rule on whether she was such in 2018); and (2) Regency Air

3 owed a duty to reimburse Hudson a reasonable amount for her cell phone cost. The summary adjudication briefing is not in the record on appeal. In July 2022, the case proceeded to a bench trial. Hudson testified, inter alia, an on-call shift typically, but not always, was from Saturday at 8:00 a.m. until Monday at 8:00 a.m. When Hudson was on call, calls to the Regency Air phone number would be transferred to her cell phone. She said she was expected to answer calls immediately and would have been reprimanded if she did not. Hudson stated she also had other tasks while on call, including flight tracking, communicating with pilots, monitoring and sending e-mails, and trying to book new charters (which entailed monitoring an industry service and creating quotes). She stated 15 hours was a “very conservative estimate” for how many hours she spent actively working while on call, and she estimated for an on-call day she would on average actively work from 6 to 12 to 14 hours a day. Hudson also testified “[p]hone calls were the least time extensive part of [her] job.” On direct examination, she testified calls at 3:00 a.m. were “still pretty common because of [their] east coast clients[,]” but on cross- examination, she testified a 3:00 a.m. call was “not super common” and she could specifically remember three calls that came in between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Hudson added she was “not saying there was not more, but in the seven months that [she] was on call, [she] specifically remember[ed] three.” Hudson further testified she was not required to go into the office while on call, but she believed she had to be within an hour of the airport while on call based on a conversation with Karli Swarez, another employee. Hudson said typically while on call she “stayed home the entire weekend” because she “was terrified of not having service, not being near [her] computer, of being anywhere that would make [her] miss a quote that [she]

4 had to make, a pilot having a question, or driving through a spotty part of town that didn’t have service and [she] would miss an important phone call.” Regency Air called two of its employees, Swarez and Nicole Worley, to testify. Swarez testified, inter alia, she was generally unrestricted in her activities and was free to shop, go to dinner, and sleep while on call. She said she did not believe she had ever spent more than 11 hours working on a weekend on-call shift, and she could not envision a scenario where it took Hudson more than 15 hours to complete any of the tasks she was assigned while on a weekend on-call shift. Swarez further testified, while she generally would save travelling for when she was not on call, she had travelled before while on call. Swarez said she did not recall advising Hudson that Hudson had to remain within one hour of the airport while on call.

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Hudson v. Regency Air CA4/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-regency-air-ca43-calctapp-2024.