Varsam v. Laboratory Corp. of America

120 F. Supp. 3d 1173, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 813, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102118, 2015 WL 4624111
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedAugust 3, 2015
DocketCase No. 14cv2719 BTM (JMA)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 120 F. Supp. 3d 1173 (Varsam v. Laboratory Corp. of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Varsam v. Laboratory Corp. of America, 120 F. Supp. 3d 1173, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 813, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102118, 2015 WL 4624111 (S.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS AND DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE

BARRY TED MOSKOWITZ, Chief. Judge.

On November 24, 2014, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the 'Complaint in its entirety under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) and a motion to strike under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f). For the reasons discussed below, Defendant's motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.,-Defendant’s motion to strike is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

On June 3, 2014, Plaintiff commenced this action ip the Superior Court of California,'County of San Diego. Plaintiff is suing on behalf, of herself-and a purported class consisting of “all persons who worked as non-exempt .Patient Service Technicians for Defendants in California, within four years prior to the filing of this complaint until date of certification.” (Compl. ¶ 16.)

Plaintiff alleges that she and all nonexempt ■ Patient Service Technicians (“PSTs”)- “worked in excess of eight (8) hours in a day, in excess of twelve (12) hours in a day, and/or in excess of forty (40) hours in a week.” (Compl. ¶40.) Plaintiff further alleges that she and all non-exempt PSTs “regularly worked off-the-clock that shpuld have been compensated at an overtime rate,” and that “Defendants discouraged Plaintiff and class members from working any time past their scheduled shifts on the clock while at the same time requiring them to complete assigned ’ tasks and not accurately record their time worked.” (Compl. ¶ 40.) Plaintiff describes how Defendant had a practice of failing to properly coordinate and schedule a sufficient amount of staff. ■(Compl. ¶¶ 40, 54, 61.) As a result, Plaintiff alleges, she and putative class members were “Unable to finish their assigned tasks within their scheduled hours”' and “were forced to clock out but continue working” during meal and rest periods or after their scheduled shift.ended. (Compl. ,¶¶ 40, 45, 54, 61.) According to Plaintiff, “Defendants had a practice and/or policy of not paying all premiums due for meal break violations” and “wilfully failed to pay Plaintiff apd class members who are no longer employed by Defendants” for those unpaid wages. (Compl. ¶¶ 54, 67.)

Plaintiff asserts eight causes of action against. Defendant Laboratory Corporation of America (“LabCorp”): (1) violation of [1177]*1177California Labor Code §§ 510 and 1198 (unpaid overtime); (2) violation of California Labor Code §§ 1194, 1197, and 1197.1 (unpaid minimum wages); (3) violation of California Labor Code §§ 226.7 and 512(a) (unpaid meal period premiums); ,(4) violation of California Labor Code § 226.7 (unpaid rest period premiums); (5) violation of California Labor Code §§ 201 and 202 (wages not timely paid upon termination); (6) violation of California Labor Code § 226(a) (non-complaint wage statements); (7) violation of California Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq. (Private Attorney General’s Act or “PAGA”); and (8) violation of California Business & Professions Code §§ 17200 et seq. (“UCL”) (unfair and harmful business practices). (Compl. ¶¶ 7-18.) Plaintiff seeks damages, statutory penalties, civil penalties, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees. (Compl. Prayer for Relief ¶ 1.)

On November 17, 2014, Defendant removed this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441, 1446, as amended by the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-2,118 Stat. 4 (“CAFA”).

II. DISCUSSION

Defendant moves to dismiss, arguing that the Complaint “is almost entirely devoid of factual allegations”-and therefore-fails to state claims for all of the counts alleged. Additionally, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs PAGA claims should be dismissed because (1) Plaintiff has failed to plead facts establishing administrative exhaustion required by PAGA; and (2) Plaintiff does not have Article III standing to bring a “representative” claim under PAGA Defendant also moves to strike the prayer for injunctive relief, references to California Labor Code §§ 204 and 558,.and the classwide allegations. The court will address each of these.arguments in turn.

A. Motion to Dismiss

1. Legal Standard

A motion to’ dismiss should be granted only where a plaintiffs complaint lacks a “cognizable legal theory” or sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal theory. Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., 622 F.3d 1035, 1041 (9th Cir.2010).. Alegations in the complaint are only entitled to the presumption of truth if they contain “sufficient allegations of underlying' facts to give fair notice and to enable the opposing party to defend itself effectively.” Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1216 (9th Cir.2011). ' Detailed factual allegations are not required, but factual allegations “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

“A plaintiffs obligation to prove the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not show[n] — that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). Establishing a complaint’s plausibility is a “context-specific” endeavor that requires courts to “draw on ... judicial experience and common sense,” Eclectic Props. E., LLC v. Marcus & Millichap Co., 751 F.3d 990, 996 (9th Cir.2014).

2. Failure to Pay Overtime and Minimum Wages

Defendant argues that the alleged “discourage[ment]” .of overtime that .created a situation where employees worked [1178]*1178off-the-clock is insufficient to state a claim. (Doc. 4-1 at 5-7.) However, courts have held that if an employer makes it difficult for employees to take a break or undermines a formal policy of providing meal and rest periods, there are sufficient grounds to find a violation of the California Labor Code. See, e.g., Fobroy v. Video Only, Inc., 2014 WL 6306708, at *2 (N.D.Cal. Nov. 14, 2014); Davenport v. Wendy’s Co., 2014 WL 3735611, at *6 (E.D.Cal. July 28, 2014); Fields v. West Marine Products Inc., 2014 WL 547502, at *5 (N.D.Cal. Feb. 7, 2014); Brinker Rest. Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1040, 139 Cal.Rptr.3d 315, 273 P.3d 513 (2012).

Relying on Landers v. Quality Comm., Inc., 771 F.3d 638, 644-45 (9th Cir.2014), Defendant also argues that Plaintiff fails to allege a “particular instance

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120 F. Supp. 3d 1173, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 813, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102118, 2015 WL 4624111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/varsam-v-laboratory-corp-of-america-casd-2015.