Shwiyat v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided December 20, 2023·No. 3:23-cv-00283·Unknown

Opinion

AUSTIN SHWIYAT, Case No. 3:23-cv-00283-JSC

Plaintiff, ORDER RE: DEFENDANT’S PARTIAL v. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT INC., Re: Dkt. No. 36 Defendant.

Austin Shwiyat filed suit against Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., alleging various California Labor Code violations pursuant to the California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”), California Labor Code §§ 2698–2699. (Dkt. No. 1-1.) Defendant removed this case to federal court, asserting federal question jurisdiction because some of Plaintiff’s claims are completely preempted by federal law. (Dkt. No. 1.) Now pending before the Court is Defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment and motion for leave to file supplemental evidence in support of its partial motion for summary judgment. (Dkt. Nos. 36, 49.) After carefully considering the briefing, and with the benefit of oral argument on December 14, 2023, the Court GRANTS IN PART Defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment and GRANTS Defendant’s motion to file supplemental evidence. Defendant removed this PAGA action based on federal question jurisdiction, asserting at least some of Plaintiff’s claims are completely preempted by § 301 of the Labor Managements Relations Act (“LMRA”) (Dkt. Nos. 1) The Court issued an Order to Show Cause to Defendant to show subject matter jurisdiction (Dkt. No. 22), and, after reviewing Defendant’s response (Dkt. jurisdiction. (Dkt. No. 31.) Indeed, at a June 1, 2023 hearing, Plaintiff conceded “at least some of the claims for some of these allegedly aggrieved employees are preempted.” (Dkt. No. 46 at 4: 2- 4.) As a result, the parties agreed to dismiss from the case those claims Plaintiff agreed are preempted by the LMRA and have Defendant file a motion for partial summary judgment regarding preemption of claims on which there remained dispute. (Dkt. No. 34.) Defendant accordingly moved for partial summary judgment, requesting the Court dismiss Plaintiff’s PAGA meal, rest period, and overtime claims, and corresponding derivative claims, brought on behalf of certain union employees, on the grounds those claims are completely preempted by federal law. (Dkt. No. 36.) After Defendant moved for partial summary judgment, Plaintiff moved to remand and for leave to file an amended complaint. (Dkt. Nos. 41, 42.) Defendant also moved for leave to file supplemental evidence in support of its partial motion for summary judgment. (Dkt. No. 49.) The Court denied Plaintiff’s remand motion because Defendant had met its burden of showing some of the PAGA claims are completely preempted by the LMRA. (Dkt. No. 65.) The Court also denied Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend, finding Plaintiff’s proposed amendments futile because they would not achieve Plaintiff’s explicit goal to facilitate remand. (Id.) However, the Court did not decide Defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment or Defendant’s motion for leave to file supplemental evidence because the Court questioned whether Plaintiff, a non-union employee, has standing to bring PAGA claims on behalf of unionized employees. See TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190, 2203 (2021). After reviewing briefing from both parties, the Court concluded Plaintiff has standing to litigate whether Plaintiff’s PAGA claims seeking penalties on behalf of unionized employees are preempted by federal law. (Dkt. No. 71.) Defendant moves for partial summary judgment on the grounds of federal preemption of certain PAGA claims for three groups of employees: (1) meal, rest, and overtime claims, as well as derivative claims, brought on behalf of ready-mix drivers; (2) meal period claims, and claims, and derivative claims, on behalf of construction employees. Summary judgment is appropriate if “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party bears the burden of producing evidence negating an essential element of each claim on which it seeks judgment or showing the nonmoving party cannot produce evidence sufficient to satisfy its burden of proof at trial. Nissan Fire & Mar. Ins. Co., Ltd. v. Fritz Cos., 210 F.3d 1099, 1102 (9th Cir.2000). “[T]he inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts contained in such materials must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655 (1962). Once the moving party meets its burden, the nonmoving party must show a material factual dispute exists. California v. Campbell, 138 F.3d 772, 780 (9th Cir.1998). Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 permits objections at the summary judgment stage to evidence when “the material cited . . . cannot be presented in a form that would be admissible in evidence.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2). So, “[a]t summary judgment, a party does not necessarily have to produce evidence in a form that would be admissible at trial.” Nevada Dep't of Corr. v. Greene, 648 F.3d 1014, 1019 (9th Cir. 2011) (quotations and citations omitted). However, “[a]n affidavit or declaration used to support . . . a motion [for summary judgment] must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant or declarant is competent to testify on the matters stated.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. Plaintiff objects (1) Mark Epstein lacks personal knowledge of work performed by union employees because he “has not personally observed any of these union employees performing work for the relevant period for this PAGA lawsuit,” (Dkt. No. 56 at 8); (2) Tricia Reedy lacks personal knowledge as to Defendant’s “ready-mix [truck] operations” and as to the work performed by Defendant’s employees. (Id. at 9-12.) Mark Epstein is Defendant’s Senior Labor Relations Manager. (Dkt. No. 29 ¶ 1.) Mr. of facility at each location relevant to those agreements. (Id. at ¶¶ 2-4; 10-12.) Given Mr. Epstein’s job as Senior Labor Relations Manager, he has personal knowledge sufficient for this testimony as to the validity and scope of these collective bargaining agreements. See In re Kaypro, 218 F.3d 1070, 1075 (9th Cir. 2000) (“Personal knowledge may be inferred from a declarant’s position.”). Mr. Epstein also asserts he has “personal knowledge of the job duties performed” by “union workers.” (Id. ¶ 6.) Specifically, he asserts employees at aggregate quarries “excavate stone, rocks, and gravel” (Id. ¶ 3); “[m]embers of the Laborers’ union . . . perform manual labor around the plant such as digging trenches, helping with excavations, or picking up rocks that fall off trucks” (Id. ¶ 5); and certain of Defendant’s employees drive “commercial motor vehicles . . . and transport property (ready mix concrete).” (Dkt. No. 29 ¶ 10.) Plaintiff objects that in his deposition, Mr. Epstein admitted he has not personally observed any of these union employees performing work duties during the relevant time periods. (Dkt. No. 57-4 at 46-49.) While Mr. Epstein lacks personal knowledge to testify as to any of the actual work performed day-by-day by specific employees, he has personal knowledge as to their duties according to the collective bargaining agreements and com

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Shwiyat v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2023).

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