Sarmiento v. Sealy, Inc.

367 F. Supp. 3d 1131
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedFebruary 14, 2019
DocketCase No. 18-cv-01990-JST
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 367 F. Supp. 3d 1131 (Sarmiento v. Sealy, 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
Sarmiento v. Sealy, Inc., 367 F. Supp. 3d 1131 (N.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

JON S. TIGAR, United States District Judge

Before the Court is Defendants Sealy, Inc. and Sealy Mattress Manufacturing Company, LLC's (collectively, "Sealy") motion for judgment on the pleadings on several of Plaintiffs' claims. ECF No. 33. The Court will grant the motion in part and deny it in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

As alleged in their complaint, Plaintiffs Jesus Sarmiento and Juan Chavez are former employees of Sealy's mattress manufacturing facility in Richmond, California. ECF No. 1 ("Compl.") ¶¶ 8-9. Sarmiento "worked concurrently as a loader, taper or sewer" during his employment. Id. ¶ 8. Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"), Sarmiento was entitled to a different hourly rate for each job. Id. Plaintiffs allege that Sealy did not "pay Sarmiento and other putative class members the higher hourly rates when required." Id.

Plaintiffs further allege that they regularly worked shifts exceeding twelve hours a day without receiving the proper overtime rate, and that Sealy furnished wage statements that omitted required information. Id. ¶¶ 10-13.

Finally, Plaintiffs allege that an incident occurred at the facility on May 26, 2017, when two Sealy management officials introduced a new points-based disciplinary system. Id. ¶ 14. After the system was introduced, Chavez asked management why they had not informed employees of the new system, given that it had already gone into effect on May 1, 2017. Id. ¶ 15. The confrontation escalated into shouting, and when Sarmiento attempted to intervene, one of the management officials threatened him as well. Id. After the employees dispersed for lunch, Sarmiento became ill and decided that he need to go home. Id. ¶ 16. Although Sarmiento communicated this reason to a co-worker, he was unable to get in touch with either his supervisor or his union representative. Id. Within two hours, Sarmiento received a call informing him that he had been terminated *1139for job abandonment. Id. Sarmiento did not receive his final paycheck until June 2, 2017. Id. ¶ 17.

Chavez was placed on administrative leave after the May 26, 2017 town hall meeting. Id. ¶ 18. He was terminated on June 7, 2017, but he did not receive his final paycheck until June 16, 2017. Id. ¶ 18.

B. Procedural History

On March 31, 2018, Plaintiffs filed this putative class action against Sealy. See id. Plaintiffs allege six claims on behalf of the class: that Sealy (1) failed to pay overtime wages, Cal. Lab. Code § 510 ; (2) secretly paid lower wages than provided for in the CBA, id. § 223; (3) withheld wages due under the CBA, id. § 222; (4) failed to promptly pay wages due upon termination, id. §§ 201, 202; (5) as a result of these violations, violated California's Unfair Competition Law ("UCL"), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200, et seq. ; and (6) failed to furnish complete and accurate wage statements, Cal. Lab. Code § 226(a). Plaintiffs also allege derivative claims under the Private Attorney General Act ("PAGA"), Cal. Lab. Code §§ 2698 -99.5, based on the first through fourth and sixth claims. Further, Plaintiffs allege two individual claims for wrongful termination: (7) unlawful retaliation based on California Labor Code section 923 ; and (8) common-law wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Sealy answered the complaint on July 10, 2018. ECF No. 18.

On November 13, 2018, Sealy filed this motion for judgment on the pleadings on Plaintiffs' second, third, seventh, and eighth claims. ECF No. 31. Sealy contends that these claims are preempted by the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185, and the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 157 - 58. ECF No. 31 at 8.

II. JURISDICTION

The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).

III. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c)

"After the pleadings are closed - but early enough not to delay trial - a party may move for judgment on the pleadings." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c). The analysis for Rule 12(c) motions for judgment on the pleadings is "substantially identical to [the] analysis under Rule 12(b)(6)." Chavez v. United States , 683 F.3d 1102, 1108 (9th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Under both rules, "a court must determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint, taken as true, entitle the plaintiff to a legal remedy." Id. (quoting Brooks v. Dunlop Mfg. Inc. , No. C 10-04341 CRB, 2011 WL 6140912, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2011) ). A plaintiff must allege facts that are enough to raise his right to relief "above the speculative level." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544

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367 F. Supp. 3d 1131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sarmiento-v-sealy-inc-cand-2019.