Sampson v. Knight Transportation, Inc

Opinion

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON VALERIE SAMPSON and DAVID CASE NO. C17-0028-JCC RAYMOND, on their own behalf and on the behalf of all others similarly situated, MINUTE ORDER Plaintiffs, v. KNIGHT TRANSPORTATION, INC. et al., Defendants.

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable John C. Coughenour, United States District Judge: This matter comes before the Court pursuant to the parties’ joint status report (Dkt. No. 106). On June 14, 2018, the Court certified the following question to the Washington Supreme Court: “Does the Washington Minimum Wage Act require non-agricultural employers to pay their piece-rate employees per hour for time spent performing activities outside of piece-rate work?” (Dkt. No. 92 at 17.) The Washington Supreme Court has answered the certified question “no.” See Sampson v. Knight Transportation, Inc., 448 P.3d 9, 11 (2019). There is a pending motion for class certification before the Court that has been fully briefed. (See Dkt. Nos. 52, 70, 77, 79, 82, and 83.) Defendants request leave to submit additional briefing to address both the Washington Supreme Court decision and additional caselaw that bears on certification of the remaining issues in the case. (Dkt. No. 106 at 2.) Finding good cause, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ request and ORDERS as follows: 1. The Court LIFTS its stay of this action. 2. Defendants may submit a supplemental brief addressing the Washington Supreme Court decision and any new relevant legal authority issued after the close of the class certification briefing. Defendants’ supplemental brief shall not exceed five pages and is due on March 18, 2020. 3. Plaintiffs’ response to Defendants’ shall not exceed five pages and is due on March 25, 2020. 4. Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification (Dkt. No. 52) is RENOTED for March 25, 2020. DATED this 3rd day of March 2020. William M. McCool Clerk of Court s/Tomas Hernandez Deputy Clerk