Cleveland v. Groceryworks.com, LLC

• Decision Date: 04 August 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 14-cv-00231-JCS
• Citation: 200 F.Supp.3d 924
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: Darren CLEVELAND, as an individual, Plaintiff, v. GROCERYWORKS.COM, LLC; and Does 1 through 10, inclusive, Defendant.

200 F.Supp.3d 924

Darren CLEVELAND, as an individual, Plaintiff,

v.GROCERYWORKS.COM, LLC; and Does 1 through 10, inclusive, Defendant.

Case No. 14-cv-00231-JCS

United States District Court, N.D. California.

Signed August 4, 2016

Leonard Thomas Emma, Michael Robert Hoffman, Hoffman Employment Lawyers LLC, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff.

Eric Carl Sohlgren, James Lucian Payne, Jeffrey K. Brown, Samantha Noelle Evans, Payne & Fears LLP, Irvine, CA, for Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JOSEPH C. SPERO, Chief Magistrate Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is before the Court on a motion for partial summary judgment by Defendant Groceryworks.com, LLC d/b/a Safeway.com and Vons.com ("Groceryworks") as to claims by Plaintiff Darren Cleveland that Groceryworks violated the California Labor Code and the California Unfair Competition Law (the "UCL"), and his request for punitive damages under both statutes. Originally brought in state court as a putative class action on December 17, 2013, the case was the removed to federal court on January 15, 2014. For the reasons discussed below, Groceryworks's Motion is DENIED as to Claims 2 (a claim for failure to provide meal breaks) and 6 (a claim under the UCL) and GRANTED as to all others at issue. Cleveland may also proceed on Claims 7 and 8, which are not at issue in the present Motion.¹

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Groceryworks is an online shopping and delivery service. Customers place their grocery orders online, Safeway and Vons grocery store employees collect and package the groceries, and Groceryworks's drivers deliver the groceries to customers. Henry Decl. (dkt. 79) ¶ 2. Groceryworks hired Cleveland as a part time driver on April 8, 2008, with a base salary of $14.00 per hour. Id. at ¶ 3. Cleveland requested a promotion to full time status in September 2013, which was granted on October 20, 2013 based on Groceryworks's business needs, and was paid at the increased rate of $17.67 per hour. Id. at ¶ 5.

During the course of his employment at Groceryworks, Cleveland worked at several stores, but primarily worked within the NorCal 3 operations area. Ilg Decl. (dkt. 85) Ex. A (Cleveland Dep.) 13:22–15:15. Within NorCal 3, he spent the majority of his time working out of Safeway store 2708 in Alameda, California. Id. When Cleveland first joined Groceryworks, Yvette Gutierrez was the operations manager overseeing NorCal 3. Id. at 22:01–04. She was succeeded by Tonya Webster, who became NorCal 3 operations manager approximately one year after Cleveland joined the company, in August 2009. Id. at 21:22–22:15. The operations manager position is responsible for overseeing delivery goals, budgets, hiring, firing, training, performance management, and analyzing store delivery metrics, including sales. Barnes Decl. (dkt. 81) ¶ 2. While Cleveland was employed at Groceryworks, the operations manager was Cleveland's supervisor. Cleveland Dep. 21:22–22:15.

Cleveland was terminated on December 5, 2013, purportedly because Groceryworks determined that he used profanity with a manager regarding Groceryworks's human resources website, and that he was dishonest during its investigation of the profane email, which Cleveland maintains that he did not write. Henry Decl. ¶ 6; Ilg Decl. Ex. A (Henry Dep.) 33:04–06; Cleveland Dep. 158:15–159:06, 259:07–15. Cleveland believes that his termination was in fact due to Groceryworks's desire to withhold full time employment benefits from him once he expressed his desire to become a full time employee. Id. at 161:24–165:03, 259:22–25.

1. Groceryworks Scheduling

Groceryworks drivers are assigned to either a morning shift, an afternoon shift, or both, by their operations manager. Cleveland Dep. 22:24–23:04. Morning shifts generally run from 10:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M. Id. at 26:05–11, 28:02–04. Afternoon shifts generally run from 4:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. Id. at 28:05–09. There is an hour gap between the end of the morning shift and the beginning of the afternoon shift, in which drivers are to return to the store, eat their lunch, and prepare for the upcoming shift if they have one. Id. at 37:17–37:24, 38:10–38:21; Barnes Decl. ¶ 12.

Groceryworks uses Descartes Route Planner ("Descartes") software to plan delivery routes. Barnes Decl. ¶ 8. Based on customers' order details and addresses, Descartes generates a daily "driver route report" which specifies the time the driver should depart from the store in order to timely fulfill the orders.² Id. Suggested departure times are communicated to the driver before the start of their shifts so that they know what time to arrive at the store to begin their shift. Id. Upon arrival at the store, drivers receive a "delivery manifest," generated by Descartes, that details the most efficient delivery order based on customer addresses. Id. at ¶ 9; Cleveland Dep. 47:12–18. Delivery manifests changed on a daily basis because customer orders varied from day to day. Cleveland Dep. 31:16–25.

Cleveland's operations manager, Tonya Webster, used both automated and manual timekeeping systems to monitor drivers' compliance with Groceryworks's meal, rest, and timekeeping policies. Henry Decl. ¶ 16. Manual and automated time entries are recorded into Groceryworks's electronic timekeeping system called "Oasis." Id. Drivers work in the field without supervision, but as a general practice, are expected to return to their assigned store at the end of the morning shift, clock out of Oasis, take lunch, then clock back in on Oasis to begin their afternoon shift if they are scheduled for one. Id. at ¶ 17. If drivers are not able to return to the store for lunch, for reasons such as delays in the projected delivery schedule, drivers are told to take an off-duty "on-the-road" lunch. Id. at ¶ 18. Drivers who take on-the-road lunches are required to call either their assigned operations manager or the operations manager in charge from the road to report the time the lunch break started and ended. Id. ; Cleveland Dep. 135:20–136:04. These times are manually recorded by the operations manager into either a "Daily Tracker Report" or an "Automated Payroll Entry," which are then entered into Oasis by the operations manager prior to the close of the payroll period. Henry Decl. ¶ 18. During Cleveland's employment, Groceryworks's Payroll Department issued "Driver Punch Reports," which reflected each driver's time punches as well as whether these entries had already been manually modified in Oasis by their operations manager. Id. at ¶ 20.

Cleveland received multiple performance evaluations during his employment, based on several factors. Henry Decl. ¶ 4. One such factor was Cleveland's "drops per hour" ("DPH") quota. Cleveland Dep. 110:11–111:08; Henry Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A at D000056–59. Drivers were expected to make two DPH. Cleveland Dep. 110:19–25; Henry Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A at D000057. Cleveland testified that he received bad reviews for failing to make his DPH quota, which he attributes to delays beyond his control not taken into account by Groceryworks in calculating drivers' DPH.³ Cleveland Dep. 120:21–23, 146:18–147:03. The two reviews criticizing Cleveland's DPH were authored by his first operations manager, Yvette Gutierrez.⁴ Henry Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A at D000056–59. Groceryworks did not use DPH as a metric to evaluate Cleveland's performance in any review after Tonya Webster became NorCal 3 operations manager in August 2009. Henry Decl. ¶ 4.

2. Groceryworks's Wage and Hour Policies

Groceryworks maintained formal policies concerning timekeeping and rest and meal breaks. Henry Decl. ¶¶ 9–15. Groceryworks communicated these policies to its drivers primarily through its Drivers Handbook. Id. at ¶ 10. Cleveland received this handbook, effective from 2005 to March 31, 2014, upon his hire in 2008. Cleveland Dep. 48:14–49:09. Cleveland also underwent training upon his hire during which Groceryworks's policies were explained. Henry Decl. ¶ 9; Cleveland Dep. 19:08–25.

a. Timekeeping Policy against Off-the-Clock work

Groceryworks's Drivers Handbook specifies that it is the driver's responsibility to accurately record time worked and that failure to record time accurately could result in an incorrect or delayed paycheck and is considered a severe violation of company policy and wage and hour laws. Sohlgren Decl. (dkt. 76) Ex. A at D001739–40. Cleveland testified that he understood that company rules prohibited drivers from performing off-the-clock work. Cleveland Dep. 30:19–22. Cleveland also testified that he understood that it was important to accurately record his time, and was aware that failure to abide by the Groceryworks's timekeeping policy may lead to disciplinary action, including termination. Id. at 50:21–51:04.

Shifts, including the delivery route and the pre- and post-delivery tasks, were all scheduled to take six hours or less. Id. at 187:07–11. Cleveland, however, estimates that he spent fifty to sixty hours working off-the-clock during the span of his employment, in large part due to the need to complete various pre- and post-delivery tasks along with his scheduled route.⁵ Id. at 226:07–16. Cleveland was never disciplined for falsifying time records, or for exceeding six hours in a shift. Id. at 144:23–25, 228:10–19.

b. Meal and Rest Period Policy and Waivers

Groceryworks's Meal Period Policy requires that drivers take an unpaid meal period of at least thirty minutes, spanning up to one hour, no later than the completion of the fifth hour of work unless they work no more than six hours and have signed a meal period waiver. Henry Decl. ¶¶ 11, 15 & Ex. D at D062505–06, Ex. H. Drivers working over ten hours a day are entitled to take a second meal period by the completion of their tenth hour of work unless they are to work no more than twelve hours, have signed a second meal period waiver, and take their first thirty minute meal period off-duty. Sohlgren Decl. Ex. A at D000033. Drivers were told that...