Goodyear Faces Allegations of Missed Breaks for California Workers

A former Goodyear Tire employee alleges the company did not provide proper meal and rest breaks or payment in lieu of the mandatory rest periods and meal breaks.

The Case: Franco v. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The Court: California’s Northern District Court

The Case No.: 5:22-CV-01320

The Plaintiff: Franco v. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The plaintiff in the case is a former employee, Franco, who worked as a Goodyear service advisor at two different Goodyear service locations in San Jose, California. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was paid at an hourly rate of $16 to $19 with an added bonus referred to as SPIFF.

The Defendant: Franco v. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The defendants in the case, The Goodyear Tire, and Rubber Company, allegedly denied their employees opportunities to take their 30-minute, uninterrupted meal breaks (required by California law). Goodyear paid the employees a meal break premium at their base hourly rate in lieu of the meal breaks. However, according to the lawsuit, the meal break premiums, which are to be paid at an employee’s regular rate of pay (including all forms of compensation), did not include the plaintiff’s SPIFF bonus as part of the regular pay rate. As a result, employees were allegedly underpaid for their missed meal breaks. Plaintiffs claim the same treatment was given to missed rest periods.

More Details of the Case: Franco v. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The case was initially filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court on January 8, 2022. On March 2, 2022, the case was removed to California’s Northern District Court. In addition to the alleged unlawful pay practices, the plaintiffs claim Goodyear failed to provide accurate wage statements, and pay workers for time worked at the time of termination. Goodyear’s wage statements allegedly failed to show accurate gross and net wages earned (due to leaving out time worked during “off the clock” rest periods and meal breaks). The lawsuit seeks to cover those who worked for Goodyear at a California location as non-exempt, hourly employees sometime during the last four years (prior to the date of the lawsuit filing).

If you have questions about California employment law or if you need to discuss how to file a California class action, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.