Class action alleging meal period violations, off-the-clock claims

A team of CRA consultants advised counsel to a national drugstore chain in a California Labor Code class action claim alleging unpaid wages as a result of the position of the time clocks within their warehouses, in addition to meal and rest break violations. CRA’s labor economists collected timekeeping and payroll data on warehouse employees across two locations, assisted in creating and narrowing the class list, and provided sample data production for the client to share with opposing counsel. Analysis included class, workweek, pay period, and shift counts, both overall and stratified by type and location of employee; calculation of compliant and non-compliant meal periods, including the type of violation, when non-compliant; and rough estimation of damages resulting from off-the-clock, meal and rest period claims, pre-judgement interest, and PAGA penalties. The client used these calculations to settle the claims in pre-trail mediation.