Mccowen v. Trimac Transportation Services (Western), Inc.

311 F.R.D. 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171591, 2015 WL 9311914
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 23, 2015
DocketCase No. 14-cv-02694-RS
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 311 F.R.D. 579 (Mccowen v. Trimac Transportation Services (Western), 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
Mccowen v. Trimac Transportation Services (Western), Inc., 311 F.R.D. 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171591, 2015 WL 9311914 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

RICHARD SEEBORG, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Lodusky McCowen is a truck driver who transports hazardous materials for defendant Trimac Transportation Services (Western), Inc. (“Trimac”). In this putative class action, McCowen contends Trimac is liable for a host of wage and hour violations related to its failure to pay drivers the compensation they are due and to provide meal and rest breaks. The putative plaintiff class consists of all current and former California-based employee truck drivers who worked for Trimac after June 10, 2010.1 Trimac opposes certification only of the meal and rest break claims, and certain derivative claims to the extent they are based on the meal and rest break claims. Trimac argues its formal meal and rest break policy is legally compliant, and insists McCowen fails to identify a uniform counter-policy that would give rise to a common finding of liability. While Trimac may succeed ultimately in proving it has no uniform policies or practices that would support liability to the class, the issues McCowen raises are suitable for disposition on a class-wide basis, and the motion will therefore be granted.

II. BACKGROUND2

Defendant Trimac is a for-hire motor carrier specializing in the transportation of bulk products. Trimae’s truck drivers are responsible for delivering freight from one point to another. The drivers at issue here transport highly dangerous hazardous materials (“hazmat drivers”). Their work tasks include locating, inspecting, fueling, and maintaining vehicles, verifying loads, planning routes and trips, completing daily logs and shipping documents, completing other paperwork, using the onboard computer system, waiting for customers, waiting on loading and unloading of shipments, and waiting for dispatch.

Plaintiff Lodusky McCowen is one of Trimac’s California-based truck drivers operating out of the terminal in Santa Fe Springs. [582]*582MeCowen raises a host of possible wage and hour violations. To begin, MeCowen avers Trimac’s compensation schemes did not fairly compensate drivers for all of the hours they worked. Specifically, from the beginning of the proposed class period until about June 29, 2014, Trimac maintained an Activity Based Pay (“ABP”) system. Under that structure, drivers were paid for certain defined activities and time periods, as well as for the mileage they drove. MeCowen argues, however, the system wrongfully deprived drivers of compensation for customer waiting time and dispatch waiting time.3

Next, as a matter of policy, MeCowen asserts Trimac paid for driving time based only on computerized estimates of the mileage between locations. This practice allegedly deprived drivers of certain compensation they were owed for time spent driving in excess of the pre-determined mileage estimates, which were routinely less than the actual miles driven. Trimac also allegedly failed to pay its drivers for “bobtail miles,” the distance drivers traveled to home terminals at the end of their shifts.

Continuing, MeCowen avers Trimac regularly failed to provide meal periods and rest periods as mandated by California law. Correspondingly, Trimac failed to provide drivers with accurate, itemized work statements, or to maintain adequate employment records of all wages earned, hours worked, and meal breaks taken. Finally, MeCowen contends Trimac willfully and knowingly failed to pay drivers upon termination all accrued compensation, including the payment of minimum wage compensation and missed meal and rest periods compensation.

On behalf of himself and a putative class, MeCowen asserts claims under California Labor Code (“Labor Code”) sections 201-203, 221, 223, 226, 226.7, 227.3, 512, 1182.12, 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 1198, California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq., Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order (“IWC Wage Order”) Nine, and the California Private Attorneys General Act, Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

Class actions are governed by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which represents much more than a mere pleading standard. To obtain class certification, plaintiffs bear the burden of showing they have met each of the four requirements of Rule 23(a) and at least one subsection of Rule 23(b). Zinser v. Accufix Research Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1186, amended by 273 F.3d 1266 (9th Cir.2001). “A party seeking class certification must affirmatively demonstrate ... compliance with the Rule.” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2551, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011). Rule 23(a) provides that a district court may certify a class only if: “(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable; (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class; (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). That is, the class must satisfy the requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation to maintain a class action. Mazza v. Am. Honda Motor Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 588 (9th Cir.2012).

If all four prerequisites of Rule 23(a) are satisfied, a court must also find that plaintiffs “satisfy through evidentiary proof’ at least one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b). Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1426, 185 L.Ed.2d 515 (2013). Relevant here is Rule 23(b)(3), which permits certification if a court finds that “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only [583]*583individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). “[A] court’s class-certification analysis must be ‘rigorous’ and may ‘entail some overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim.’ ” Amgen Inc. v. Conn. Ret. Plans and Trust Funds, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1184, 1194, 185 L.Ed.2d 308 (2013) (quoting Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551); see also Mazza, 666 F.3d at 588 (“Before certifying a class, the trial court must conduct a ’rigorous analysis’ to determine whether the party seeking certification has met the prerequisites of Rule 23.”). This “rigorous” analysis applies to both Rule 23(a) and Rule 23(b). See Comcast, 133 S.Ct. at 1432 (discussing how Congress included “addition[al].. .procedural safeguards for (b)(3) class members beyond those provided for (b)(1) or (b)(2) class members (e.g., an opportunity to opt out)” and how a court has a “duty to take a ‘close look’ at whether common questions predominate over individual ones”).

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311 F.R.D. 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171591, 2015 WL 9311914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccowen-v-trimac-transportation-services-western-inc-cand-2015.