California Workers File a Class Action Lawsuit Against Cannabis Companies

Casey Denning and Natalia Cole filed a California lawsuit suing Cannabis harvesting company Loud Buddha LLC and Pura Cali Management Corp, a cultivation contractor associated with Loud Buddha. The companies allegedly violated provisions of the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and California labor law. According to the lawsuit, the companies forced workers to work long hours in an oppressive workplace with no overtime pay or meal breaks. They also allegedly failed to provide accurate wage statements. The plaintiffs filed on their own behalf as well as others in similarly situated positions with the cannabis companies.

According to Plaintiffs: Workers’ Duties Were Dangerous & Included:

• Cultivating marijuana plants

• Harvesting marijuana plants

• Bucking marijuana plants (removing buds and stems)

• Hanging marijuana plants

• Placing marijuana plants in large commercial freezers to be transported

According to the lawsuit, over 50 workers completed these job duties to total multiple tons of cannabis each year from the Pura Cali marijuana farm.

The Complaint Against Loud Buddha & Pura Cali: What Were the Alleged Violations?

1. Employees forced to work 12-hour days every day of the week.

2. Workers were expected to stay on the job site in a remote location, sleeping on cots. Workers were threatened with discipline if they failed to comply.

3. Employers failed to keep track of workers’ time accurately.

4. Employers failed to provide required meal breaks and rest breaks.

5. Workers were not reimbursed for work expenses (i.e., meals, travel, etc.)

6. Employers allegedly failed to provide overtime pay, paying workers $15/hour in cash.

7. Time records kept by the employer were allegedly unreliable and inaccurate – depriving workers of earned wages and failing to comply with FLSA record-keeping requirements.

Workers employed by the cannabis company are often referred to as “trimmigrants.” The trimmigrants are typically young and often undocumented seasonal workers. The abusive, arguably dangerous conditions endured by the trimmigrants working in Northern California’s Emerald Triangle have been going on for years. The chronicles of their situation include tales of murder, sexual assault, and disappearances.

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

Disney Attempts to Prevent Class Action Pay Inequality Lawsuit

Several employees sued Disney alleging pay inequality based in gender discrimination. Disney attempted to prevent the potential class action from moving forward, but the plaintiffs pushed back insisting that their claims need to be investigated rather than dismissed outright.

Disney attempted to dismiss the gender pay inequality allegations claiming the pay differences were based on other factors like education, seniority, etc. According to California’s Equal Pay Act, the centuries old practice of paying female workers less than their male counterparts is harmful to the State’s economic health.

Disney’s spokesperson claims Disney is firmly committed to equitable pay and is prepared to engage with any workers that feel they are experiencing gender discrimination affecting their pay. The company insists that the plaintiffs have misrepresented the facts and mischaracterized the company’s practices. Disney’s legal counsel challenged the plaintiffs’ counsel in their attempt to invoke a class action procedure arguing that the matter is unsuited to the resolution of the plaintiffs’ claims since they are each inherently individualized.

The pay discrimination lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in April 2019 by two Walt Disney employees: LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore. According to the suit, Rasmussen was a Disney worker for 11 years. Her most recent job title with Disney was Product Development Manager. The 2nd plaintiff, Moore, worked for Disney for 23 years and was a Senior Copyright Admin Administrator for the studio’s music division. 

Additional plaintiffs joined the case in September 2019. The 10 plaintiffs involved in the case are employed in various areas of the Disney enterprise including: Hollywood Records, Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Studios, and Disney ABC Television. The number of plaintiffs indicates the matter may be eligible for class action status and plaintiffs’ counsel has encouraged other Disney workers who believe they have experienced gender discrimination to come forward and join the class action.

If you have questions about California labor law violations or if you are experiencing gender discrimination at work, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.

Following Years of Complaints, Uber Proposes a New Minimum Wage for Drivers with a Catch

A California bill that could be a massive financial blow to Uber and Lyft’s profits is getting closer and closer to becoming a law. In response, the ride-hailing companies are increasing their lobbying efforts in an attempt to block it or destroy it once and for all. Uber emailed drivers and riders this month laying out their own proposals to offer their drivers benefits and protections as requested, but is there a catch?

In the email, Uber stated that they were advocating for a new policy to strengthen protections for rideshare drivers by creating a minimum hourly rate (approx.. $21 per hour while on a trip), including the costs of drivers’ average expenses, offering their drivers access to paid time off, sick leave and compensation if they are injured on the job. They also stated the new policy change suggestions would empower their drivers to have a collective voice and make decisions about their work.

The email is on par with prior comments the company made since the bill was drafted earlier this year, but it added a new specific minimum wage mention. According to information in a 2018 study from Schaller Consulting, rideshare drivers for Uber and Lyft spend 63% of their miles driven (on average) with passengers in the car. This number only applies specifically to when a driver has a passenger in the car or is in route to pick a passenger up (63% of the time). And this isn’t the only part of Uber’s proposal that activists in support of drivers’ rights find misleading. The real take home pay being offered is significantly lower than the apparent $21/hour.

The bill in question, Assembly Bill 5, was passed by the legislative body in May 2019. It depends on the Senate’s appropriates committee to bring it before a full vote of the second chamber. The bill would institute a test to determine worker status as employee or independent contractor. The test contains three parts: determining if a worker is free from the company’s control or direction while they perform job duties, determining if the worker is performing work that falls outside of the hiring group’s typical business, and determining if the worker has their own independent business outside the job for which the entity hired them.

The passage of the bill could be disastrous for the huge gig companies offering ride-hailing services.

If you have questions about your employment rights as a driver in California or if you need to find out how to file a wage and hour lawsuit, please get in touch with one of the experienced employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik and DeBlouw LLP today.

$90M Spent by Popular Ride Share and Food Delivery App Companies to Avoid Better Pay for Drivers

Uber, Lyft, and Doordash…all familiar names to most Americans. The three have not only become household names because of the services their companies provide, but because they seem to be constantly in the news facing lawsuits from their drivers. Most recently, Uber, Lyft and Doordash are actively fighting against legal actions seeking better pay for their drivers. In fact, they will spend an estimated $90 million just to avoid paying their drivers higher wages.

The three companies, along with other gig companies, have spent months attempting to talk the California legislature out of passing a bill that would effectively strengthen the employment protections of their “drivers.” The bill is now on the verge of final passage with a solid endorsement from the governor. And the chance to talk the legislature over their way of thinking seems to have come and gone. In response, the three powerful gig companies have contributed $30 million each to support a ballot initiative protecting them from the requirement to classify their drivers as employees.

This makes the campaign one of the most expensive in the history of California, right behind the $105 million campaign by dialysis companies last year to beat Proposition 8 because it would have placed limits on how much they charge for their services. In comparison, supporters of the measure were only able to gather $20 million.

The action taken by Uber, Lyft and Doordash creates a virtual $90 million war chest and is another example of how the “big money” is usually not aligned with the interests of the ordinary citizen. This type of big spending is usually a bargain for the donors involved. They stand to gain a lot more from defeating this type of ballot measure that goes against their interests (or supporting the passage of a bill that enriches them) than they are required to spend to make a difference. The $30 million contributions per gig company seems far less substantial when compared to the annual revenues of the companies actively supporting the campaign.

Uber collected $15.7 billion in revenue in the second quarter (that ended June 30th).

Lyft collected $867.3 million in revenue in the second quarter (that ended June 30th).

Both the companies are losing significant revenue (Uber lost $5.2 billion and Lyft loses $644 million in the most recent quarter), but their losses would have been much more significant if they were required to cover the cost of their drivers’ fuel, vehicle maintenance, maintain workers compensation coverage, pay taxes, etc. These are type of expenses that would require reimbursement if the classification of their drivers were to leave them eligible for employment protections under FLSA.

If you have questions about unpaid overtime or if you need to find out how to file a California overtime lawsuit, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik and DeBlouw LLP today.

Recent News Labels Litigation Trend “Shakedown” Lawsuits

In response to a recent uptick in the number of lawsuits – particularly employment law claims against restaurants, the restaurant industry is scrambling to come up with standard advice for owners and managers in the industry. In response to what they are labeling "shakedown" lawsuits, restaurant owners and managers are encouraged to employ precautions and counter strategies to mitigate and avoid lawsuits. Corporations and business owners desperately want to avoid the costs of paying out thousands or even millions in settlements due to class action employment lawsuits.

Common Alleged Violations Cited in Class Action Employment Suits Against Restaurants:

Discrimination Lawsuits: While many businesses have inclusive company policies, diversity standards, clear, supportive LGBTQ policies, etc. this does not guarantee that managers and supervisors will behave in accordance with stated company policy. Many companies with positive, inclusive, and diverse standards supported by written and enforced company policy still face harsh allegations due to other employees, supervisors and managers who are acting against company policy as a representative of the company.

Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuits: Employers are required to offer job applicants and employees with notice when information is collected through third party credit reporting agencies including credit reports, background checks, prior history info and ownership asset reports. As the general public becomes more aware of their rights to know prior to having their data accessed, the number of lawsuits citing fair credit reporting violations increases.

Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuits: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuits focus on wage and hour violations with the most common being overtime violations and minimum wage violations. One of the main issues that crop up when employees claim FLSA violations is misclassification. Employers seeking to save money and maximize their workforce sometimes willfully deny their workers benefits and pay they have a legal right to by misclassifying them as exempt or as independent contractors.

If you have been misclassified on the job, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP. Our employment law attorneys have the resources and experience companies fear in litigation.

Getaround Employs a New Tactic to Defeat Employee Lawsuits

Gig economy businesses continue to face lawsuits demanding answers regarding whether or not workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Many gig economy companies rely on contract work for their business model. These companies have seen the most significant increase in misclassification lawsuits. As the number of misclassification lawsuits increased, so did the number of tactics businesses used to manage the employee lawsuits. These tactics have included PR campaigns, lobbyists, presenting legal arguments that they are not employers – just software programs, and more. The recent lawsuit filed against Getaround Inc. has resulted in a new tactic.

Getaround Inc. assists people hoping to rent their personal vehicles out online. But at the moment they may be best known in certain circles for employing an uncommon legal tactic to a common issue in today’s world. In a preemptive strike against a class action lawsuit, Getaround mailed out dozens of checks to former workers with paperwork attached asking them to sign away their legal right to sue. The interesting part is that a provision included in the documents stated the deposit of the enclosed check counted as an agreement to waive the right to sue – even without signing the included contract. Almost everyone who received the paperwork deposited the check.

The tactic is not unheard of, but it seems to be particularly effective in the gig economy. This may be due, in part, to the fact that industry workers lack financial stability. Attorneys asked to respond to the topic have described it as “insidious” since most former workers can’t afford to seek legal counsel for advice on depositing the check or holding out for a larger payout from an eventual lawsuit. Low wage workers are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal maneuvering.

The legal strategy in Getaround’s case highlights how creative gig companies are willing to be to avoid scrutiny of their worker classification methods. Many gig companies of this nature are not profitable, and reclassifying workers and providing employment benefits would mean even less profitability for the company. Many gig companies throughout California are still in a flat spin following California Supreme Court’s sweeping ruling last year limiting the scope of work they can classify as “contract” labor.

Settling worker claims using the “Pick Up Stix” tactic (as it is often referred to) is unusual in the gig economy, but this may be largely due to the fact that most gig economy companies require workers to sign class-action waivers as part of their arbitration agreements.

Are you misclassified on the job? If you have questions about what it means to be classified as an independent contractor versus an employee, don’t hesitate to get in touch with an experienced employment law attorney at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP. Our convenient locations in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and Chicago make it easy for us to be your advocate and seek the justice and compensation you deserve.

Comcast Contractor Faces Settles Up to Resolve Allegations of Unpaid Overtime and Labor Law Violations

O.C. Communications Inc., a Comcast Contractor that supplies tech talent, agrees to pay a $7.5 million settlement to resolve an unpaid overtime lawsuit. Court documents include allegations that company employees were not paid overtime, were denied meal breaks in violation of state labor law, and not reimbursed for business expenses (i.e., tools necessary for the job).

The federal overtime class-action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco naming O.C. Communications (a California firm) and Comcast as Defendants. The two Defendants agreed to settle the case after an extensive amount of litigation that included the production of 1.5 million documents related to the case. Both Defendants, while agreeing to pay the settlement amount identified above, continue to deny any wrongdoing.

One of the lead plaintiffs in the class action overtime lawsuit, Desidero Soto of Concord, California, claims that O.C. Communications scheduled him to complete 32 job stops during one workday even though the typical complete workday included a total of eight stops. Supervisors instructed him to work through meal breaks to make it work regardless of what he was required to write on official time sheets. He claims any time taken to eat during the workday was while driving from job to job and even then, he was required to be accessible by cell phone at all times and to respond to work calls at any time.

Another plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, Jacky Charles of Margate, Florida, was a tech for the Defendant from September 2016 through May 2017. He claims that he was required to buy his own wireless drill, drill bits, screwdriver, staple gun, and a variety of cables, and work clothes to fulfill his job duties. Hundreds of other techs presented similar claims to the court.

According to court records, the $7.5 million settlement that O.C. Communications and Comcast agreed to pay plaintiffs on March 1st could have the 4,500 techs splitting the amount (minus legal fees).

If you have questions about unpaid overtime or what constitutes a violation of labor law, the experienced employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP can help. Get in touch with the employment law office nearest you: San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange or Chicago.