Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc.

319 F. Supp. 3d 1180
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 11, 2018
DocketCase No. 17-CV-00062-LHK
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 319 F. Supp. 3d 1180 (Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc., 319 F. Supp. 3d 1180 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

LUCY H. KOH, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Roderick Magadia ("Plaintiff") brings the instant suit on behalf of himself and others similarly situated against Defendants Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. (collectively, "Wal-Mart"). Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment. Having considered the submissions of the parties, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Wal-Mart is a national retailer with locations throughout the United States. ECF No. 84. Plaintiff worked as a non-exempt employee in Wal-Mart's store in San Jose, California from June 17, 2008 to September 16, 2016. Id.

When one of Wal-Mart's non-exempt California employees works overtime during a given pay period and earns "non-discretionary remuneration in the same pay period," Wal-Mart pays an employee an "additional overtime wage" that appears as "OVERTIME/INCT" on the employee's wage statement. ECF No. 67 ("Mot.") at 19; see ECF No. 67-1, Ex. C, Deposition of Todd Stokes ("Stokes Dep.") at 66-68, 69, 76-77. INCT is an abbreviation for incentive. See Stokes Dep. at 67. This ensures Wal-Mart is in compliance with California Labor Code § 510(a), which requires employers to factor in an employee's non-discretionary remuneration when calculating that employee's overtime pay. See Marin v. Costco Wholesale Corp. , 169 Cal. App. 4th 804, 807, 87 Cal.Rptr.3d 161 (2008) ("Because the nondiscretionary bonus at issue here increases the regular rate of pay, employees who worked overtime during the bonus period and were paid at 1.5 times their hourly rate (unaugmented by the bonus) during that time are entitled to additional overtime pay once the bonus is awarded."). The OVERTIME/INCT item is a lump sum and does not list an hourly rate or specify hours worked. ECF No. 67-1 at 35 (one of Plaintiff's wage statements).

Wal-Mart employees like Plaintiff are paid biweekly. ECF No. 67-1, Ex. 1, Declaration of Todd Stokes ("Stokes Decl.") ¶ 9. Wal-Mart provides employees with biweekly wage statements that correspond to the particular pay period. Id. These wage statements list the start and end *1184dates of the pay period. ECF No. 67-1 at 34 (one of Plaintiff's wage statements). When an employee is terminated, they receive a "Statement of Final Pay" that lists all wages being paid to the employee at the end of employment. Stokes Dep. at 82; Stokes Decl. ¶ 9. According to Todd Stokes, Wal-Mart's "Regional HR Director," as a matter of Wal-Mart's policy and practice, none of Wal-Mart's Statements of Final Pay from December 2015 onwards included pay period start or end dates. Stokes Dep. at 89-91. However, Wal-Mart also generates a final on-cycle wage statement and informs employees how to access it online during their exit interview. Stokes Decl. ¶ 9.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed this putative class action in the Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara on December 2, 2016. See Compl. Plaintiff's complaint alleges causes of action for (1) violation of California Labor Code §§ 226.7 and 512 ; (2) violation of California Labor Code § 226(a) ; (3) violation of the Private Attorney Generals Act, Cal. Lab. Code § 2698, et seq. ; and (4) violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq. Id. On January 5, 2017, Wal-Mart removed the action to this Court alleging jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2). See ECF No. 1. On February 2, 2017, Wal-Mart filed an answer to Plaintiff's complaint. ECF No. 19.

On May 31, 2017, this Court "order[ed] the parties to prepare a neutral notice for putative class members to opt-out of having their names and contact information provided to Plaintiff's counsel. A third party administrator shall distribute the notice and accept opt-outs from the putative class at Plaintiff's expense." ECF No. 27, at 1. Then, on June 5, 2017, Plaintiff filed an "Administrative Motion Regarding Belaire-West Opt-Out Notice Procedure" requesting this Court to (1) order "that the putative class members be given 30 days to opt-out of having their contact information provided to Plaintiff's counsel"; and (2) order Wal-Mart to "provide all known email addresses and cell phones to the administrator in connection with the opt-out process and upon the expiration of the opt-out period, that this information be provided to Plaintiff's counsel." ECF No. 31 at 3.

On June 21, 2017, this Court granted Plaintiff's first request and denied Plaintiff's second request. ECF No. 33. Accordingly, the Court ordered Wal-Mart to "provide the third-party administrator the known mailing addresses and last known home telephone numbers of all putative class members as defined by Plaintiff." Id. at 3. The Court also ordered the notices to be "mailed out within ten (10) days of the third-party administrator's receipt of the putative class members' mailing addresses and last known home phone numbers," and noted that putative class members "will have 30 calendar days from the date of mailing" of the notices to opt-out. Id. at 4.

On January 9, 2018, the Court granted Plaintiff's motion for class certification. ECF No. 84. The Court certified three classes:

Meal Period Regular Rate Class: All current and former California non-exempt retail store employees of Wal-Mart who received non-discretionary remuneration, including "MYSHARE INCT," and was paid any meal period premium payments in the same period that the non-discretionary remuneration was earned, at any time between December 2, 2012, through the present.
OVERTIME/INCT Wage Statement Class:

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Bluebook (online)
319 F. Supp. 3d 1180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/magadia-v-wal-mart-assocs-inc-cand-2018.