Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

107 F. Supp. 3d 1044, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69982, 2015 WL 3451966
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 28, 2015
DocketCase No. 08-cv-05221-SI
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 107 F. Supp. 3d 1044 (Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, 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
Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 107 F. Supp. 3d 1044, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69982, 2015 WL 3451966 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SUSAN ILLSTON, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment came on for hearing on May 1, 2015. For the reasons stated below, the Court hereby GRANTS in part and DENIES in part plaintiffs motion.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are truck drivers in California previously employed by defendant WalMart for some period of time between 1993 and the present. Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”) ¶ 3-6. Plaintiffs allege Wal-Mart violated California law by failing to pay plaintiffs at least the minimum wage for each hour worked.

Plaintiffs initially filed this case in Alameda County Superior Court in October 2008. Docket No. 1. Wal-Mart removed the case to this Court under the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2) in November 2008.1 Id. Plaintiffs moved for remand, which the Court denied. Docket No. 33. In February 2009, the case was stayed pending a final decision by the California Supreme Court in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, Case No. S166350. Docket No. 32. The California Supreme Court’s decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004, 139 Cal.Rptr.3d 315, 273 P.3d 513 (2012) became final in May 2012, at which point proceedings in this case resumed. Plaintiffs Carroll Hampton, Robert Rodriguez, Donald C. Bryan, Virgil Caldwell, and Jeffrey Hammond were terminated on November 27, 2012.2 Wal-Mart sought dismissal of plaintiffs Third Amended Complaint in December 2012, which the Court granted in part and denied in part. Docket Nos. 65, 72. Plaintiffs filed their Fourth Amended Complaint in May, 2013, and Wal-Mart again moved to dismiss. Docket Nos. 73, 74. In June 2013, the Court denied Wal-Mart’s motion to dismiss as to plaintiffs’ claims for meal and rest break violations, unpaid wages, wage statement violations, minimum wage violations, and UCL claims. Docket No. 82. The Court granted the motion as to plaintiffs’ claims for punitive damages. Id.

In December 2013, the Court granted the parties’ stipulation to dismiss the [1047]*1047claims of three plaintiffs: Richard Brown, Dennis Cole, and Thomas Bryson. Docket No. 94. In May 2014, Wal-Mart moved for partial summary judgment as to the claims of' five plaintiffs: Farris Day, Charles Ridgeway, Tim Opitz, Dan Thatcher, and Jaime Famoso. Docket No. 109. The Court granted in part and denied in part Wal-Mart’s motion for summary judgment. The Court denied the motion as to plaintiffs’ minimum wage claims for layovers, pre-- and post-inspections and paperwork, wait periods, rest breaks, and moving trailers.

In September 2014, the Court granted in part and denied in part plaintiffs motion for class certification. Docket No. 158. Plaintiffs now move for partial summary judgment.

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any, material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The moving party bears the initial burden of .demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party, however, has no burden to disprove matters .on which the non-moving party will have the burden of proof at trial. The moving party need only demonstrate to the Court that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

Once the moving party has met its burden, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to “set out ‘specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (quoting then Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). To carry this burden, the non-moving party must “do more than simply show that there, is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence ... will be insufficient; there must be evidence'on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-moving party].” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

In deciding a summary judgment motion, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all justifiable inferences in its favor: Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. “Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge ... ruling on a motion for summary judgment.” Id. However, conclusory, speculative testimony in affidavits and moving papers is insufficient to raise genuine issues of fact and defeat summary judgment. Thornhill Publ’g Co., Inc. v. GTE Corp., 594 F.2d 730, 738 (9th Cir.1979). The evidence the parties present must be admissible. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c).

DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs now for move summary judgment as to: (1) their, minimum wage claims; and (2) Wal-Mart’s eighth affirmative defense. Plaintiffs contend that WalMart’s payment policies, as articulated in Wal-Mart’s Driver Pay Manuals, violate California wage law by failing to pay drivers at least minimum wage for all of the time they work, including time spent on pre-trip and post-trip inspections, rest breaks, wait time, fueling the tractor, washing the tractor and trailer, weighing the tractor and trailer and completing mandatory paperwork. Plaintiffs further [1048]*1048argue that drivers are entitled to payment of minimum wages for the time spent taking mandatory layovers. Plaintiffs have clarified that the present motion is limited to questions of liability and does not seek any determination of damages.3 Reply at 5. For the purposes of this motion for partial summary judgment, plaintiffs seek a determination of whether the driver pay policies described in the Driver Pay Manuals violate California minimum wage law.

I. Wal-Mart’s Driver Pay Policies

At issue in this case are the 2001, 2006, and 2008 Wal-Mart Driver Pay Manuals. Each of these documents is labeled “Driver Pay Manual” or “Driver Reference and Pay Manual,” details the activities for which drivers are paid, and specifies activities for which drivers are not paid. Wilson Dep., Exs. 12, 13, 14; Aurit Dep., Ex. 2.

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Bluebook (online)
107 F. Supp. 3d 1044, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69982, 2015 WL 3451966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ridgeway-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-cand-2015.