Porch v. Masterfoods

• Decision Date: 22 September 2008
• Docket Number: Case No. CV 06-6431 SVW (CWx).
• Citation: 685 F.Supp.2d 1058
• Parties: DeJohnn PORCH, individually and on behalf of all those similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. MASTERFOODS, USA, INC. and does 1 to 500, inclusive, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California

685 F.Supp.2d 1058

DeJohnn PORCH, individually and on behalf of all those similarly situated, Plaintiff,

v.MASTERFOODS, USA, INC. and does 1 to 500, inclusive, Defendants.

Case No. CV 06-6431 SVW (CWx).

United States District Court,

CD. California.

Decided: Sept. 22, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Henry M. Lee, Henry M. Lee Law Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiff.

David A. Flores, Laura Bailey Gallagher, Thomas R. Davies, Harmon and Davies PC, Lancaster, PA, David P. King King Cheng and Miller LLP, Joshua L Harmon, Harmon and Davies PC, Pasadena, CA, Harry R. Harmon, Starr H Arvay, Lori N. Brown, Las Vegas, NV, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [75] [JS-6]

STEPHEN V. WILSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff DeJohnn Porch ("Plaintiff or "Porch"), individually and on behalf of those similarly situated, ¹ brings this action against Defendant Masterfoods U.S.A Inc. ("Defendant" or "Masterfoods") and Does 1-100, alleging numerous violations of the California Labor Code, California Code of Regulations and Industrial Welfare Commission Order (No. 4-2001). Defendant Masterfoods now brings before the Court its Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Defendant's Motion.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed his original complaint in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on October 28, 2005. The complaint was amended and stayed pending disposition in the California Supreme Court of Murphy v. Kenneth Cole, 40 Cal.4th 1094, 56 Cal Rptr.3d 880, 155 P.3d 284 (2007), except with regard to discovery matters. In September 2006, Plaintiff again amended the complaint to include a class of individuals defined as "all California nonexempt employees" working for Masterfoods between the time of October 2001 to October 2005. The case was then removed to this Court on the basis of the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA") and Plaintiffs motion to remand the case was denied. The Court continued the stay pending a decision in Murphy.

Plaintiff sets forth six Causes of Action in his Third Amended Complaint. The First Cause of Action alleges violations of California's Bus. & Prof.Code Section 17200, et seq. against all Defendants for their failure to pay employees for all overtime worked; failure to provide appropriate meal and rest periods; failure to provide employees with accurate accounting of wages paid; and failure to maintain accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. (Third Amended Complaint, at ¶15.) ("TAC"). The Second Cause of Action is levied against all Defendants and alleges violations of the California Code of Regulations and the Industrial Welfare Commission Order for failure to appropriately pay non-exempt employees overtime wages. (TAC, at ¶¶20-21.) The Third Cause of Action alleges a failure to provide meal periods in violation of the California Labor Code Section 512 and the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission Order. (TAC, at ¶ 26.) The Fourth Cause of Action alleges violations of the same provisions for failure to provide rest periods in accordance with Labor Code Section 226.7. Plaintiffs Fifth Cause of Action alleges that waiting time penalties are owed for the time since Plaintiff was terminated. (TAC, at ¶ 34.) Plaintiff's Sixth Cause of Action asserts a violation of California Labor Code Section 226, et seq., for failure to provide appropriate wage information including the exact number of hours worked and the rates of pay for such hours. (TAC, at ¶ 36.)

On July 18, 2007 the Court denied Masterfoods' Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), which was sought on the grounds of preemption by the Labor Management Relations Act. [Doc. 52.] On September 26, 2007, Masterfoods filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, alleging that Plaintiff fails to present a "triable issue of fact and that Masterfoods is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on all counts of the Complaint." (Motion for Summary Judgment ("Motion"), at 9.)

B. Factual Background

1. Parties involved in Dispute

Defendant Masterfoods is an unincorporated division of Mars, Inc., headquartered in Virginia and incorporated in Delaware. Plaintiff, DeJohnn Porch, was an active employee at Defendant Masterfoods from approximately March 1999 through December of 2004, at which point he went on sick leave. (Def. Statement of Undisputed Facts ("DSUF") at 1.)² During this time period, Plaintiff worked as a Customer Service Representative, whose duties included contacting customers to ensure the delivery of Masterfoods products. (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff received favorable reviews from his supervisors during his active employment with Masterfoods, and likewise praised his supervisors and managers for the work environment that they created during this period. (Id. at 4, 5.) During the relevant period of employment, Plaintiff was paid for all of the hours of overtime that he reported to Defendant through the appropriate time-keeping systems.³ (Id. at 6.) This included 47 hours of overtime in 2001; 94 hours in 2002; 5 hours in 2004; and 20 hours in 2004.(/d) Additionally, others in Plaintiffs workgroup reported, and were paid for, overtime hours without discipline. (Id.) On numerous occasions during his time of employment Plaintiff filed for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and received the leave he requested. (Id. at 8.)

2. Policies and Procedures at Issue

a. Overtime and Time-Keeping Policies

The first issue presented in the instant litigation is Defendant's policy and practice of overtime work. Masterfoods's overtime policy requires overtime pay for those employees whose work exceeds 8 hours per day 40 hours per week. (DSUF, at 20.) Masterfoods policy also requires its associates to "obtain manager's approval before working overtime, which Plaintiff understood to be the case." (Id. at 22.) Associates, as nonexempt employees, were required by Masterfoods to punch in at the start of the workday on a Kronos time clock, which would mark the time at which they began. (Id. at 23.) The associates punched out, however, only if they left the office at a time "different from their normally scheduled finish time." (Id.) The standard schedule in the National Office was typically eight and a half hours, which included a half-hour meal break that Masterfoods automatically deducted for a total eight hours of work per day. (Id.) Accordingly, the time-keeping system in place at Masterfoods would keep a daily work period of eight hours for associates using standardized hours and schedules.

Beginning in February 2002, associates in the National Office gained access to a computer "Labor Scheduling System" ("LSS"), which allowed these associates to report changes in their schedule to their managers for approval. (Id. at 23.) The LSS timekeeping system in place was an automated clock-in/clock-out system whereby Masterfoods entered a set clockin time into an employee's records and also entered a set clock-out time eight and a half hours from the clock-in time. (Monica Blake Deposition ("Blake Dep."), at 67.) The system would automatically deduct half an hour for a lunch break. (Id., at 69.) In addition to these functions, associates in the National Office could use the LSS system to record changes to their time record—including working overtime and working through lunch periods. Employees would also receive a "punctuality bonus" for clocking in using the Kronos time system at or before the time when their shift was supposed to start according to the LSS system. (DeJohnn Porch Deposition ("Porch Dep."), at 44.) The employees did not clock out using the same system, but instead were expected to leave at the time that was set through the LSS system. (DSUF, at 22.) If they did not leave at that set time, LSS made it possible for the employees to notify supervisors of the change in their hours or the overtime worked. Plaintiff was trained in usage of this system and did, on occasion, record changes through LSS.⁴ Associates in the National Office could notify, via email, their manager or payroll coordinator for changes to their timekeeping. (Id. at 24.) The paychecks sent through this system were accurate, insofar as they correctly paid the periods of work reported through LSS by the Masterfoods employees. (Id. at 25.) Plaintiff does not dispute the use of the system, or the reporting process that was supposed to occur through his manager. (Opp. SUF, at 30.) Plaintiff also acknowledges that he never directly told his manager or his time keeper that he worked through his lunch periods. (Id. at 26.)

b. Meal and Rest Breaks

Defendant Masterfoods contends that it has a written and posted policy that requires employees to take a 30 minute meal break during the workday. (DSUF, at 13.) Plaintiff does not dispute the existence of such a written and posted policy. Instead, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant failed to comply or ignored the stated policy, instead "enforce[ing] a company wide policy restricting employees to Defendant's onsite cafeteria during meal breaks...." (Opp. SUF, at 13.) It is undisputed that Plaintiff "knew and understood Masterfoods' policy regarding meal and rest breaks... though for a while he thought lunch breaks lasted an hour." (DSUF, at 14.) Plaintiff admits that he did take meal breaks and rest breaks, which included, on occasion, hour long breaks. (Id. at 15). Plaintiff asserts, however, that during this time he was confined to the on-site cafeteria and therefore not given a genuine meal break. (Opp. SUF, at 15.) During his employment with Masterfoods, no one ever told Plaintiff to forego a meal and rest break. (DSUF, at 16.) Plaintiff also never reported to anyone at Masterfoods that he worked through his break periods. (DSUF, at 17.) However, Defendant's payroll coordinator Martha Hernandez admitted that she could see whether or not Plaintiff was seated at his workplace. (Martha Hernandez Deposition ("Hernandez"), at 93.)

III. ANALYSIS

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