Raposo v. Garelick Farms, LLC

293 F.R.D. 52, 21 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 80, 2013 WL 3733461, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97475
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 11, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 11-11943-NMG
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 293 F.R.D. 52 (Raposo v. Garelick Farms, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Raposo v. Garelick Farms, LLC, 293 F.R.D. 52, 21 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 80, 2013 WL 3733461, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97475 (D. Mass. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GORTON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Walter Raposo and Joseph Mingolla (“plaintiffs”) are former truck drivers for defendant Garelick Farms, LLC (“defendant” or “Garelick”), a dairy distribution business. Plaintiffs’ claims, on their own behalf and on behalf of others similarly situated, arise from Garelick’s policy of automatically deducting 30 minutes from drivers’ time cards for mandatory, unpaid meal breaks. The drivers allege that they are owed compensation for unpaid meal breaks which they did not take because, in order to meet work requirements, they were frequently forced to work through meal breaks without compensation. Plaintiffs also claim that even if drivers take their 30-minute break, the restrictions Garelick imposes on where and how such breaks must be taken render that time compensable.

I. Background

The defendant dairy distribution company operates facilities in Franklin and Lynn, [54]*54Massachusetts. Both plaintiffs were employed as delivery truck drivers at the Franklin facility.

Garelick company policy provides that delivery drivers are to be afforded two, paid 15-minute breaks and one, unpaid 30-minute meal break during each six-hour shift. Although Garelick requires that all drivers take the unpaid meal break, drivers have complete discretion as to when during their shift they take their meal breaks. Accordingly, when and how a driver takes his meal break varies significantly from driver to driver.

Plaintiffs allege that Garelick automatically deducts 30 minutes of time from a truck driver’s time card regardless of whether the driver actually takes the meal break. They suggest that Garelick is able to confirm whether a driver took his break through XATANET, a program used by Garelick for tracking truck movements and other metrics, planning routes and complying with Department of Transportation safety regulations. Garelick supervisors encourage drivers to record all breaks and other delays that occur during their shifts in XATANET, although breaks often go unrecorded or are recorded incorrectly.

Each Garelick facility has its own break policy. For example, a driver at the Franklin facility may divide his daily allotment of 60 minutes of break time into increments of any length. The Lynn facility, however, prohibits a driver from combining his two 15-minute breaks with his 30-minute meal break and also encourages drivers to separate their breaks by at least 90 minutes of work time. The Franklin facility requests that drivers keep their vehicles within sight when parked for meal breaks. The Lynn facility has no similar policy, although both facilities expect drivers not to go “off route” by more than five or ten miles to take meal breaks.

Prior to this action, a Franklin facility driver who did not take his meal break during a particular shift was instructed to communicate with his supervisor in order to ensure that he was properly compensated for that time.1 Lynn facility drivers who were unable to take their breaks were also told to communicate with their supervisors, who would then review the driver’s route and, if warranted, allow the driver to take extra break time later in the week.

II. Procedural History

Plaintiff Walter Raposo filed a class-action complaint in the Massachusetts Superior Court for Norfolk County in September, 2011. In November, 2011, Garelick removed the case to this Court and shortly thereafter moved to dismiss. In response, plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint in December, 2011, in which Joseph Mingolla was added as a named plaintiff. In their Amended Complaint plaintiffs allege that Garelick 1) failed to pay wages in violation of M.G.L. ch. 149 § 150 and 2) has been unjustly enriched by its failure to pay proper wages in violation of state common law.

In April, 2012, plaintiffs moved for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint, seeking to assert two new claims against Garelick and in September, 2012, defendant moved to strike plaintiffs’ class claims. Shortly thereafter, the Court denied both motions.

Now before the Court are plaintiffs’ motion for class certification and the parties’ joint motion to extend deadlines.

III. Motion for Class Certification

Plaintiffs request that the Court certify a class consisting of: “All individuals who have worked as delivery drivers for Garelick Farms in Massachusetts since September 27, 2005.”

A. Legal Standard

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23, a court may certify a class only if it finds that the proposed class satisfies all of the requirements of Rule 23(a) and that class-wide adjudication is appropriate for one of the reasons set forth in Rule 23(b). See Smilow v. Sw. Bell Mobile Sys., Inc., 323 F.3d 32, 38 (1st Cir.2003). Here, Plaintiffs request that the Court certify a class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3).

[55]*55“A district court must conduct a rigorous analysis of the prerequisites established by Rule 23 before certifying a class.” Id. (citing Gen. Tel. Co. of Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161,102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982)). A district court’s inquiry into the merits of a case at the class certification stage should be conducted only “to the extent that the merits overlap the Rule 23 criteria.” In re Boston Scientific Corp. Sec. Litig., 604 F.Supp.2d 275, 280-81 (D.Mass.2009) (quoting In re New Motor Vehicles Canadian Export Antitrust Litig., 522 F.3d at 24). However, when factual premises are disputed, a court may “probe behind the pleadings [and] formulate some prediction as to how specific issues will play out.” In re New Motor Vehicles Canadian Exp. Antitrust Litig., 522 F.3d 6, 20 (1st Cir.2008) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a) requires that a class meet the following criteria: 1) “the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable” (numerosity), 2) “there are questions of law or fact common to the class” (commonality), 3) “the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class” (typicality), and 4) “the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class” (adequacy). Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(l)-(4).

Under subparagraph (b)(3) of the same Rule, litigation may proceed as a class action if the four criteria of subparagraph (a) are satisfied and

the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual 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).

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Bluebook (online)
293 F.R.D. 52, 21 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 80, 2013 WL 3733461, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raposo-v-garelick-farms-llc-mad-2013.