Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_18-cv-00120/USCOURTS-caed-1_18-cv-00120-18/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 790
Nature of Suit: Other Labor Litigation
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JUAN TREVINO, CHRISTOPHER 

WARD, LINDA QUINTEROS, ROMEO 

PALMA, BRITTANY HAGMAN,

1

ALBERTO GIANINI, and JUAN C. 

AVALOS, on behalf of themselves and all 

others similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v.

GOLDEN STATE FC LLC, a Delaware 

Limited Liability Company; 

AMAZON.COM INC., a Delaware 

Corporation, AMAZON FULFILLMENT 

SERVICES, INC., a Delaware Corporation,

Defendants.

LEAD CASE NO. 1:18-cv-00120-DAD-BAM

Member Case No: 1:18-cv-00121-DAD-BAM

Member Case No: 1:18-cv-00567-DAD-BAM

Member Case No: 1:18-cv-01176-DAD-BAM

Member Case No: 1:17-cv-01300-DAD-BAM

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

REGARDING (1) PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION 

FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND (2) 

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION IN LIMINE

(Docs. 96, 98, 125)

Findings and Recommendations

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Juan Trevino, Christopher Ward, Linda Quinteros, Romeo Palma, Alberto 

Gianini and Juan C. Avalos, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, bring this 

1 On December 9, 2019, pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, Plaintiff Brittany Hagman was dismissed from 

this action as a putative class representative without prejudice. (Docs. 106, 109.)

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consolidated class action against defendants Golden State FC, LLC (now known as 

Amazon.com Services LLC), Amazon.com, Inc., and Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc. (now 

known as Amazon.com Services LLC) (collectively, “Amazon”). Plaintiffs move for class 

certification pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b)(3). (Docs. 96, 98.) 

The motion was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe for issuance 

of findings and recommendations in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and (C). (Doc.

112.) 

Subsequent to the motion for class certification, Amazon moved to exclude the 

testimony and opinions of Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Brian Kriegler, submitted in support of 

Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. (Doc. 125.) That motion also was set to be heard in 

conjunction with Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.

A hearing on the motions was held via video conference on May 12, 2021, before the 

Honorable Barbara A. McAuliffe. Counsel Peter Dion-Kindem, Lonnie Blanchard, Isandra 

Fernandez, Shawn Westrick, Alvin Lindsay and Joshua Haffner appeared via Zoom on behalf of 

Plaintiffs. Counsel Katherine Smith, Jason Schwartz and Helen Avunjian appeared via Zoom 

on behalf of Amazon. Having considered the moving, opposition and reply papers and the 

parties’ arguments, it is recommended that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification be 

GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and that Amazon’s motion to exclude the 

testimony and opinions of Dr. Kriegler be DENIED as moot. 

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual and Procedural Background

This matter is a consolidated action comprised of five wage and hour lawsuits originally 

filed in the Central and Eastern Districts of California. On March 28, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a 

First Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”) seeking to bring wage 

and hour claims on behalf of all current and former non-exempt hourly workers employed by 

Amazon in California for the period of four (4) years prior to July 12, 2017 to the present. 

(Doc. 65, Complaint at ¶ 21.) 

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Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon.com”) is one of the world’s largest and well-known online retailers. Amazon.com fills customer orders and ships them based out of a network of 

fulfillment, sorting, distribution and shipping centers. (Doc. 98-1 at 6.)2 According to the 

allegations in the Complaint, Amazon operates at least nine different fulfillment centers for 

Amazon.com in California, which are located in San Bernardino, Rialto, Eastvale, Tracy, 

Moreno Valley, Redlands, and Patterson City. They are in San Bernardino, Riverside, San 

Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Riverside counties. (Complaint at ¶ 17.) 

Plaintiff Juan Trevino worked as a Fulfillment Associate in Amazon’s fulfillment center 

located in Tracy, California, from March 14, 2017 through May 6, 2017. (Complaint at ¶ 8.) 

Plaintiff Christopher Ward worked in various positions at Amazon’s fulfillment center located 

in San Bernardino, California, from May 24, 2015 to November 23, 2016. (Id. at ¶ 9.) Plaintiff 

Linda Quinteros worked in various positions at Amazon’s fulfillment center located in 

Patterson, California, from October 17, 2013 to December 13, 2016. (Id. at ¶ 10.) Plaintiff 

Romeo Palma currently is employed at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Patterson, California. 

(Id. at ¶ 11.) Plaintiff Alberto Gianini worked as a Warehouse Associate in Amazon’s 

fulfillment center located in San Bernardino, California from October 2014 through August 

2016.3

 (Id. at ¶ 13.) Plaintiff Juan C. Avalos worked in the outbound department, processing 

packages that were going to be shipped out in Amazon’s fulfillment center located in Moreno 

Valley, California from July 2016 through May 2017. (Id. at ¶ 14.)

Plaintiffs forward claims for the following wage and hour violations: (1) failure to pay 

wages for all hours worked, including overtime, (2) meal period violations, (3) rest period 

violations, (4) wage statement violations, (5) failure to pay wages under California Labor Code 

§ 203, (6) unfair business practices, and (7) violations of the California Business and 

Professions Code (Private Attorneys General Act claim). (Doc. 65.) 

2 Page number citation is based on the Court’s CM/ECF pagination. 

3 The Complaint alleges that Plaintiff Gianini was employed by Amazon “from October 2104.” (Complaint 

at ¶ 13.) The year “2104” is an apparent typographical error, which the Court construes as “2014.” 

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With regard to the claim for failure to pay for all hours worked, Plaintiffs allege that 

Amazon instituted a variety of policies resulting in violations. These policies include: (1) 

scheduling employees for 10-hour shifts, but during pre-holiday periods, requiring Plaintiffs and 

putative class members to work 11 or 12-hour shifts (Complaint at ¶ 31); (2) a uniform policy of 

rounding actual time entries down to the nearest total one-tenth hour to conform to shift 

schedule, not actual time worked (Id. at ¶ 32); (3) a uniform policy of providing a five-minute 

grace period excusing an employee who clocks in late for a work shift if he or she clocked in 

during that five-minute window, but if the employee was more than five minutes late, not 

compensating the employee for the remainder of the first hour worked and deducting an hour of 

unpaid time from the employee’s accumulated unpaid time hours (Id. at ¶ 34); (4) failing to pay 

shift premiums to all employees who worked shifts eligible to receive them (Id.); (5) an 

alternative workweek and shift scheduling policy and practice that required a four-day 

workweek and ten-hour workdays that undercompensated employees for two hours of their 

working time and systematically reflected fewer overtime hours than they worked (Id. at ¶ 36); 

(6) a policy requiring Plaintiffs and putative class members to routinely work shifts over eight 

(8) hours in a day and over forty (40) hours in a work week, but not paying appropriate overtime 

rate for all such hours (Id. at ¶ 37); and (7) failing to compensate Plaintiffs and putative class 

members for time spent going through Amazon’s security procedures4 (Id. at ¶ 38).

With regard to the claim for failure to provide lawful meal periods, Plaintiffs allege that 

Amazon engaged in a number of policies and practices that resulted in violations. These 

policies and practices include: (1) requiring fulfillment center employees to work shifts greater 

than five (5) hours without providing them with timely, uninterrupted duty-free meal periods of 

not less than thirty (30) minutes because they were required to clock-out at the beginning of 

their meal periods and were then subject to security procedures both to leave the work site and, 

if they left the work site, were subject to security procedures to re-enter the work site before 

they could clock-in (Complaint at ¶ 33); (2) failing to provide Plaintiffs and putative class 

4 The Court will refer to Amazon’s exit security procedures as both “exit security procedures” and “exit 

security process,” as the parties use these terms interchangeably.

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members with a second 30-minute meal period on the shifts in which they worked over ten (10) 

hours and being provided with a purported “California Meal Period Waiver Agreement” that did 

not clearly state the terms and conditions under which the waiver would apply (Id. at ¶ 44); (3)

shortening of meal periods due to off-the-clock work and rounding and untimely meal periods 

after the fifth hour of work on shift (Id. at ¶ 45); and (4) failing to compensate employees for 

each meal period not provided or inadequately provided (Id. at ¶ 46).

With regard to the claim for failure to provide rest periods, Plaintiffs allege that Amazon 

engaged in a number of policies and practices that resulted in violations. These policies and 

practices include: (1) uniformly failing to authorize and permit Plaintiffs and putative class 

members to take their required ten (10) minute rest periods for every four (4) hours of work or 

major fraction thereof or to take a third ten-minute rest break when they worked shifts over ten 

(10) hours in a day (Complaint at ¶ 48); (2) failing to relieve employees of all duties and 

relinquish control over how employees spend time during rest periods by requiring them to walk 

to remote break room locations during rest breaks (Id. at ¶ 49); (3) enforcing a uniform policy 

preventing Plaintiffs and the putative class members from leaving the fulfillment center 

premises during their rest breaks under a uniformly applied policy that admonished that “leaving 

company premises without permission during assigned work hours” is “extremely serious” and 

may result in “termination of employment” (Id. at ¶ 50); and (4) failing to compensate 

employees with an additional hour of pay for each day Amazon failed to provide them with 

adequate rest breaks (Id. at ¶ 53).

With regard to the claim for wage statement violations, Plaintiffs allege that Amazon 

violated California Labor Code § 226(a) by failing to provide Plaintiffs and putative class 

members with wage statements that accurately showed (1) gross wages actually earned, (2) total 

hours worked, (3) net wages actually earned, and (4) applicable hourly rates and the 

corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate (Complaint at ¶¶ 57-60).

With regard to the claim for failure to timely pay wages due at termination, this is a 

derivative claim. Plaintiffs allege that members of the putative class that were terminated 

during the relevant time period were not timely paid the wages earned and unpaid that were due 

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to them, including wages at the appropriate rate for all hours worked and meal and rest period 

premiums as alleged in the Complaint. (Complaint at ¶ 68.)

With regard to the unfair business practices and PAGA claims, these also are derivative 

claims based on the alleged Labor Code violations. (Complaint at ¶¶ 74, 80.)

On November 22, 2019, Plaintiffs moved to certify eleven classes pursuant to Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 23(a) and (b). (Doc. 96 [Sealed].) Pursuant to a sealing order, Plaintiffs filed redacted 

briefing on November 26, 2019, and December 10, 2019. (Docs. 98, 110.) Amazon opposed the 

motion by redacted briefing on January 13, 2020, and Plaintiffs replied on January 30, 2020. 

(Docs. 119, 128.) On January 24, 2020, Amazon filed a separate motion to exclude the 

testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert witness, Dr. Kriegler. (Doc. 125.) Plaintiffs opposed the motion 

to exclude (Doc. 133), and Amazon replied (Doc. 135). 

Subsequent to the completed briefing, the parties filed notices of new authority 

addressing the following opinions: Frlekin v. Apple Inc., 8 Cal.5th 1038 (2020) (Doc. 137); 

Ramirez v. TransUnion LLC, 951 F.3d 1008 (9th Cir. 2020) and Mays v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 

904 Fed.App’x 641 (9th Cir. 2020) (Doc. 140); Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., 973 F.3d 947 (9th Cir. 

2020), amended and superseded by Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., 979 F.3d 639 (9th Cir. 2020) (Doc. 

149); Donohoe v. AMN Services, LLC, 11 Cal.5th 58 (2021) (Doc. 154); Olean Wholesale 

Grocery Cooperative, Inc. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, 993 F.3d 774 (9th Cir. 2021) (Doc. 158); 

and Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., ---F.3d---, 2021 WL 2176584, at *8 (9th Cir. May 

28, 2021) (Doc. 163).

B. Proposed Classes

As indicated, Plaintiffs seek certification of eleven classes. They are as follows: 

Class 1. Unpaid Wages Class (Hours Worked Claim Based on Control of Employees 

through Mandatory Exit Security Procedures)

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc.5 or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

5 This class would include Golden State FC, LLC employees as this company merged with Amazon.com 

Services, Inc.

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determined by the Court who were required to go through a metal detector security 

process to exit the facility.

(Doc. 98-1 at 10.)

Class 2. Unpaid Wages Class (Controlled Meal Periods)

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who took a meal period and who were required to go 

through a metal detector security process to leave the facility during such meal 

period and were not paid for the time of such meal period.

(Doc. 98-1 at 15.)

Class 3. Meal Period Violations for Controlled Meal Periods

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who worked a shift longer than six hours and who were 

required to go through a metal detector security process to leave the facility during 

such meal periods and were not paid a meal period premium for such shifts.

(Id. at 16-17.)

Class 4. Rest Periods Violations for Controlled Rest Periods

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who worked a shift longer than three and one-half hours 

and were subject to a policy that leaving company premises without permission 

during assigned work hours was a serious infraction that subjected them to 

termination or who were required to go through a metal detector security process

to leave the facility during the rest period and were not paid a rest period premium 

for all such shifts.

(Id. at 18.)

Class 5. Improper Rounding Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who were subject to a rounding practice that resulted in 

them being paid less than they would have received had no such rounding practice 

been utilized for such employees. 

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(Id. at 19.)

Class 6. Invalid Second Meal Period Waiver Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who signed any meal period waiver in the forms attached 

as Exhibit 12 to the Declaration of Peter R. Dion-Kindem in Support of Motion for 

Class Certification and worked more than 10 hours in a day, did not receive a 

second 30 minute meal period, and did not receive one hour of pay at the class 

member’s regular rate of compensation for such day.

(Id. at 20.)

Class 7. Third Rest Period Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who were scheduled to work a 10-hour shift and worked 

more than 10 hours and who were not authorized or permitted to take a third 

uninterrupted, duty-free, and control-free 10-minute rest period and did not receive 

one hour of pay at the class member’s regular rate of compensation for such day.

(Id. at 20-21.)

Class 8. Direct Violation of Section 226(a)(2) Wage Statement Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. in California at any time during the period from July 12, 2016 

and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the Court who 

did not receive an itemized statement in writing accurately showing the total hours 

worked by the employee where the wage statements reflect a line item for regular 

hours worked and at least one other line item for other types of hours worked other 

than regular overtime or double time, such as shift differential hours worked.

(Id. at 21.)

Class 9. Derivative Wage Statement Class

All members of any of Classes 1 through 7 who, during the period from July 12, 

2016 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the 

Court, were not provided with accurate itemized wage statements with all the 

information required by Labor Code Section 226(a)(1), (2), (5) and (9).

///

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Class 10. Section 203 Subclass

All members of any of Classes 1 through 7 who, during the period from July 12, 

2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the 

Court, were either voluntarily or involuntarily separated from their employment 

and did not timely receive all wages owing pursuant to Labor Code Section 201 or 

202.

Class 11. UCL Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2013 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who are owed restitution as a result of Defendants’ 

business acts and practices that are found to be unlawful, deceptive, and/or unfair.

(Id. at 24.)

C. Challenged Policies

Many of the challenged policies overlap within and among the various classes. The 

Court provides a summary of the policies along with a reference to the particular class or 

classes.

1. Payment of Lawful Wages

Exit Security Procedures (Classes 1-4)

Plaintiffs contend that Amazon implemented uniform exit security procedures at all the 

facilities where Plaintiffs and putative class members workers, which required all of the putative 

class members to pass through metal detectors and undergo security procedures in order to exit 

the facilities at the end of their shifts, for their meal periods or to exit for any other reason. 

Plaintiffs contend that employees were under Amazon’s “control” from the time of facility 

entrance (swipe-in) until the time employees passed through the metal detectors and exited 

(swipe-out). Plaintiffs further contend that by Amazon’s uniform policy, it failed to pay 

Plaintiffs and putative class members for all hours worked, including the time they were under 

Amazon’s control after clocking out while they were subjected to Amazon’s exit security 

procedures.

///

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Rounding Policy (Classes 5 and 7) 

 (Doc. 119-2 at 343, Ex. X (Sealed)).] Plaintiffs claim that Amazon underpaid putative 

class members in the aggregate due to rounding. 

 2. Meal and Rest Periods (Classes 3-7) 

Plaintiffs contend that by requiring mandatory security screening exit procedures to 

leave the facilities, Amazon failed to relinquish all control over employees’ activities during 

meal and rest periods, including control over where such breaks are taken. Plaintiffs second 

theory of liability is that Amazon’s written uniform policies prohibit employees from leaving 

the premises for rest periods without permission. 

Amazon allegedly also failed to authorize and permit a third, 10-minute rest period for 

many of the shifts worked over 10 hours. Class members were also not provided with a second 

30-minute meal period on the shifts they worked over 10 hours. Plaintiffs admit that Amazon 

obtained meal period waivers from some employees, but claim that certain of those waivers are 

invalid and unenforceable, as they are ambiguous and self-contradictory, misrepresent and fail 

to fully disclose class members’ rights, and unlawfully purport to waive more than just second 

meal periods. (Doc. 98 at 7-8.) 

 3. Wage Statements (Class 8)

Plaintiffs’ claims regarding Amazon’s failure to provide accurate wage statements derive 

both from the face of the wage statements and from Plaintiffs’ substantive claims. As to the 

wage statements themselves, Plaintiffs assert that Amazon provided wage statements that did 

not have a line item for “total hours worked” in violation of California Labor Code section 

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226(a)(2). As to the derivative claims, they stem from Plaintiffs’ assertions of substantive wage 

violations.

4. Payment of Timely Wages and UCL Claims (Classes 9-11)

Plaintiffs’ claims for failure to pay timely wages under Labor Code § 203 at the 

termination of employment and their claims under the UCL are derivative and based on 

Amazon’s alleged substantive violations. 

III. MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION 

A. Legal Standards

1. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23

Class certification of Plaintiffs’ claims is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 

23. Whether or not to certify a class is within the discretion of the Court. United Steel, Paper & 

Forestry, Rubber, Mfg. Energy, Allied Indus. & Service Workers Int’l Union, AFL–CIO CLC v. 

ConocoPhillips Co., 593 F.3d 802, 807 (9th Cir. 2010). 

A class may be certified only if: (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members 

is impracticable; (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class; (3) the claims or 

defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) 

the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 23(a). These requirements are “commonly referred to as the numerosity, commonality, 

typicality, and adequacy requirements.” Norris–Wilson v. Delta–T Group, Inc., 270 F.R.D. 596, 

601 (S.D. Cal. 2010). 

In addition to the requirements imposed by Rule 23(a), Plaintiffs bear the burden of 

demonstrating that the class is maintainable pursuant to Rule 23(b). Narouz v. Charter 

Commc’ns, LLC, 591 F.3d 1261, 1266 (9th Cir. 2010). In this case, Plaintiffs seek class 

certification under Rule 23(b)(3). To certify a class under Rule 23(b)(3), Plaintiffs must 

demonstrate: (1) “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any 

questions affecting only individual members,” and (2) a class action is “superior to other 

available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 

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23(b)(3). Plaintiffs bear the burden of satisfying the elements of Rules 23(a) and 23(b)(3). See 

Zinser v. Accufix Research Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1186 (9th Cir. 2001).

Rule 23 is not a mere pleading standard. “A party seeking class certification must 

affirmatively demonstrate his compliance with the Rule – that is, he must be prepared to prove 

that there are in fact sufficiently numerous parties, common questions of law or fact, etc.” WalMart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 350 (2011) (“Dukes”) (emphasis in original). When 

considering a motion for class certification, a court must conduct a “rigorous analysis” to 

determine “the capacity of a classwide proceeding to generate common answers apt to drive the 

resolution of the litigation.” Id. at 350-51 (citation omitted); Ellis v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 

657 F.3d 970, 980 (9th Cir. 2011). 

2. Wage and Hour Claims

“In California, wage and hour claims are ... governed by two complementary and 

occasionally overlapping sources of authority: the provisions of the Labor Code, enacted by the 

Legislature, and a series of 18 wage orders, adopted by the [Industrial Welfare Commission 

(“IWC”)].” Troester v. Starbucks Corp., 5 Cal.5th 829, 839 (2018), as modified on denial of 

reh’g (Aug. 29, 2018) (citation and quotation omitted). “The IWC’s wage orders are to be 

accorded the same dignity as statutes. They are presumptively valid legislative regulations of the 

employment relationship, regulations that must be given independent effect separate and apart 

from any statutory enactments.” Id. (citations and quotations omitted). IWC Order No. 2001-7 

defines “hours worked” as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an 

employer, and includes all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or 

not required to do so.” Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11070(2)(G). “Hours worked” by an employee 

are compensable. See id. § 11070(3)(A)(1), 4(B); see also Troester, 5 Cal.5th at 840; Morillion 

v. Royal Packing Co., 22 Cal.4th 575, 587 (2000).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Rule 23(a) Numerosity, Typicality and Adequacy

As a preliminary matter, the parties do not dispute the numerosity, typicality and 

adequacy requirements of Rule 23(a). The Court briefly addresses these requirements. 

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1. Numerosity

Rule 23(a)(1) requires the proposed class to be so numerous that joinder of all of the 

class members would be impracticable. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). “’[I]mpracticability’ does not 

mean ‘impossibility,’ but only the difficulty or inconvenience in joining all members of the 

class.” Harris v. Palm Springs Alpine Estates, Inc., 329 F.2d 909, 913–14 (9th Cir. 1964) 

(quoting Advert. Specialty Nat’l Ass'n v. Fed. Trade Comm’n, 238 F.2d 108, 119 (1st 

Cir.1956)). Additionally, the exact size of the class need not be known so long as “general 

knowledge and common sense indicate that it is large.” Perez-Funez v. Dist. Dir., 611 F.Supp. 

990, 995 (C.D. Cal. 1984). 

Amazon does not dispute that Plaintiffs have met the numerosity requirement, 

suggesting that Plaintiffs’ proposed classes cover “over 200,000 current and former employees 

who worked in over fifty facilities of various types throughout California.” (Doc. 119 at 6.) 

For the security screening classes (Classes 1-4), Plaintiffs posit that there are between 

70,000 and 80,000 people who worked at Amazon facilities in California that had mandatory 

metal detector security exit procedures. (Doc. 98-1 at 26.) For the wage statement class (Class 

8), Plaintiffs have identified hundreds of thousands of wage statements for the relevant time 

period. Further, Plaintiffs have identified Amazon’s admission that over 40,000 employees’ 

employment ended during the class period. (Id.) Absent a substantive, compelling dispute 

regarding numerosity, the Court finds that the numerosity requirement is satisfied. 

2. Typicality

In order to meet the typicality requirement, Rule 23(a)(3) requires the claims or defenses 

of the representative parties be typical of the claims or defenses of the class. Fed. R. Civ. P. 

23(a)(3). The purpose of Rule 23(a)(3) is “to assure that the interest of the named representative 

aligns with the interests of the class.” Hanon v. Dataproducts Corp., 976 F.2d 497, 508 (9th 

Cir.1992). “The test of typicality ‘is whether other members have the same or similar injury, 

whether the action is based on conduct which is not unique to the named plaintiffs, and whether 

other class members have been injured by the same course of conduct.’” Id.

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Plaintiffs contend that the typicality requirement is met because Plaintiffs and the 

putative class members were subject to the same course of conduct. Plaintiffs also assert that 

they and the putative class seek recovery based upon the same legal theories and Amazon’s

course of conduct. The Court notes that Plaintiffs were employed only at Fulfillment Centers

and not at Sorting Centers with metal detectors or any other type of Amazon facility in 

California. (See Doc. 98-17, Trevino Decl. at ¶ 2 (Tracy); Doc. 98-18, Ward Decl. at ¶ 2 (San 

Bernardino); Doc. 98-14, Gianini Decl. at ¶ 2 (San Bernardino); Doc. 98-16, Quinteros Decl. at 

¶ 2 (Patterson); Doc. 98-13, Avalos Decl. at ¶ 2 (Moreno Valley); Doc. 98-15, Palma Decl. at ¶ 

2 (Sacramento.) Nonetheless, Amazon does not argue that the typicality requirement is not 

satisfied here. 

3. Adequacy of Representation

Rule 23(a)(4) provides that the court may certify a class only if “the representative 

parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” The two key inquiries are 

whether: (1) the named plaintiff and their counsel have any conflicts of interest with other class 

members; and (2) plaintiff and counsel will vigorously prosecute the action on behalf of the 

class. Ellis v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 657 F.3d 970, 985 (9th Cir. 2011). 

Plaintiffs contend that the adequacy requirement is met. In particular, Plaintiffs aver that 

neither they nor their counsel have conflicts of interest with other class members. Plaintiffs also 

aver that they are fully prepared to take all necessary steps to fairly and adequately represent the 

classes and have agreed to abide by all the necessary duties of class representatives, including 

assisting counsel in the litigation. (Doc. 98 at 26-27.) Plaintiffs also state that counsel

representing the named Plaintiffs are competent and experienced in handling class action 

lawsuits and have done extensive factual and legal research regarding the asserted claims. (Id.

at 27.) Amazon does not challenge that the adequacy requirement has been met. 

B. Rule 23(a) Commonality and Rule 23(b)(3) Commonality - Predominance

Rule 23(a)(2) requires “questions of law or fact common to the class.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 

23(a)(2). Although “any competently crafted class complaint literally raises common 

questions,” commonality “requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that the class members have 

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suffered the same injury.” Dukes, 564 U.S. at 349-50. “What matters to class certification ... is 

not the raising of common ‘questions’—even in droves—but, rather the capacity of a classwide 

proceeding to generate common answers apt to drive the resolution of the litigation.” Id. at 350 

(internal citations omitted). A class claim “must depend upon a common contention ... of such 

a nature that it is capable of classwide resolution—which means that determination of its truth 

or falsity will resolve an issue that is central to the validity of each one of the claims in one 

stroke.” Id. In assessing commonality, a court’s rigorous analysis may entail some overlap with 

the merits of the plaintiff’s underlying claim, and class determinations generally involve 

“considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiff’s cause 

of action.” Id. at 351.

Under Rule 23(b)(3), the predominance requirement is similar to the Rule 23(a)(2) 

commonality requirement, but the standard is much higher. Dukes, 564 U.S. at 359; Amchem v. 

Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 624-25 (1997) (predominance criterion far more demanding that Rule 

23(a)’s commonality requirement). “When considering whether to certify a class, it is 

imperative that district courts ‘take a close look at whether common questions predominate over 

individual ones.’” Olean, 993 F.3d at 784 (quoting Comcast Corp. v Behrend, 559 U.S. 27, 34 

(2013)). “[D]istrict courts must perform a ‘rigorous analysis’ to determine whether this 

exacting burden has been met before certifying a class.” Id. (citation omitted). “This “rigorous 

analysis” requires “judging the persuasiveness of the evidence presented” for and against 

certification. Id. (citation omitted). “[A] district court must find by a preponderance of the 

evidence that the plaintiff has established predominance under Rule 23(b)(3).” Id.

1. Exit Screening Classes

Plaintiffs’ proposed classes, 1 through 4, with one limited exception discussed below, 

are comprised of persons who were subject to a “metal detector security process to exit the 

facility.” The security process, as generally described by Plaintiffs, requires that in order to gain 

access to the production area of a facility, employees were required to “swipe-in” at a security 

turnstile near the entrance to the facility using an ID badge. The entrance to the facility did not

have a metal detector to gain entry. After “swipe-in,” an employee clocked in by walking to a

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time clock and clocking in by using their ID badges. After their shifts ended, they were required 

to clock out and then exit the facility through the mandatory security exit process, which 

consisted of going through a metal detector and bag check and then “swiping out” at the security 

turnstile before they could leave the facility. (See, e.g., Doc. 98-14, Gianini Decl. at ¶ 3; 98-15, 

Palma Decl. at ¶ 3; 98-18, Ward Decl. at ¶ 4 (“In order to gain access to the production area of 

the facility, I was required to ‘swipe-in’ at a security turnstile near the entrance to the facility 

using my ID badge. To clock in, I went to a timeclock and clocked in using my ID badge. After 

my shift was over, I was required to clock out and then exit the facility through the mandatory 

security exit process, which consisted of going through a metal detector and bag check, 

including standing for a wand scanner and having my pockets checked, then ‘swiping out’ at the 

security turnstile before I could leave the facility.”). Similarly, Amazon’s expert, Dr. Michael 

Ward, generally understood the process as follows:

[A]t the start of the workday employees entering a facility may have their entry 

arrival time recorded at a turnstile or other sensing device at the entry to the work 

facility. They then “punch in” to a separate “clock” that records time for payroll 

purposes. At the end of the day, the process is reversed, in that the employee first 

“punches out” ending their workday. They then proceed to exit the facility and, if 

a turnstile exists at the facility, this time is also recorded. 

(Doc. 123 at 10, Ex. A, Expert Report of Michael P. Ward, Ph.D. (“Ward Expert Report”)). 

According to the evidence, Amazon appears to operate two main types of facilities in 

California with exit security screening in the form of metal detectors: Sorting Facilities and 

Fulfillment Centers.6 (Doc. 119-4, Declaration of Cody Carr (“Carr Decl.”) at ¶ 3.)

The Court now turns to the specific proposed exit security screening classes for 

certification.

Class 1: All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. 

or Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time 

during the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or 

6

 Plaintiffs have not clearly identified the total number of facilities at issue for purposes of class certification, and 

Plaintiffs’ counsel was unable to provide such information when questioned at oral argument. Plaintiffs’ expert 

understood that there were 12 facilities with metal detectors at the security checkpoint: LGB8, OAK3, OAK4, 

ONT2, ONT6, ONT8, ONT9, PCA1, SJC7 and SMF1. (Doc. 107-1 at 13). Plaintiffs were also unable to account 

for variations of the exit screening procedures among the facilities, such as variations in the number of lanes, 

seasonal variations of screening, or which facilities turned off the metal detectors.

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as otherwise determined by the Court who were required to go through a metal 

detector security process to exit the facility.

For this class, Plaintiffs first claim that “whether the time spent by employees after 

entering the secured premises and before leaving the secured premises constitutes ‘hours 

worked’ under California law and whether [Amazon] paid for all hours worked are common 

issues” that the Court can resolve on a class-wide basis. (Doc. 98-1 at 11-12.) In particular, 

Plaintiffs assert that the issue of whether “off-the-clock” time spent by class members while 

they were within Amazon’s facilities is compensable under the “control” test of Wage Order 

No. 7 is a common question that can be resolved on a class-wide basis. 

Plaintiffs’ specific theory of “control” is that after entering the facilities, class members 

could not choose to leave without exiting through the mandatory security exit procedures, and

employees were therefore under Amazon’s “control” once they entered the secured facilities 

until they left the secured facilities after passing through the metal detectors. Plaintiffs argue 

they should be compensated for that time under Amazon’s “control.” (Doc. 98-1 at 14; Doc. 

123 at 10, Ex. A, Ward Expert Report (“plaintiffs maintain that all time spent by employees 

inside of a facility should be compensated—not just the time that they are clocked into and out 

of work.”). 

Under this theory, Plaintiffs contend that whether they were under Amazon’s control 

“throughout the entirety of time they were on Amazon’s premises is a common issue.” (Doc. 

98-1 at 12.) This would include the time from when employees “swiped in” (entry turnstile or 

other sensing device) to the time they “swiped out” (exit turnstile). According to Amazon’s 

evidence, Fulfillment and Sorting Centers, which have metal detectors, use turnstiles to enter 

and exit the facility. (Doc. 119-4, Carr Decl. at ¶ 3.) 

Insofar as Plaintiffs claim they are entitled to compensation for the time spent after 

swiping in (entering the facility) and before clocking in because they could not exit the facility 

without completing Amazon’s mandatory exit screening process, this claim is not supported by 

the evidence or record. (Doc. 98-1 at 10.) After entering facilities with an exit screening

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process, and before clocking in, Plaintiffs and putative class members could access lockers and 

main breakrooms located outside security screening areas. (See, e.g., Doc. 120, Ex. 1, 

Declaration of Eric Aceves at ¶¶ 1, 31 (Sacramento (SFM1) Fulfillment Center; need to exit 

security to access main breakroom); Ex. 2, Declaration of Ana Alcala at ¶¶ 1, 7 (San 

Bernardino (ONT2) Fulfillment Center; “After putting my personal items and storing my lunch 

in the cubby area near the Main Breakroom, I walk past the security checkpoint . . . I then 

immediately walk up to a time clock just past security and check in.”); Ex. 4, Declaration of 

Alma Angeles at ¶¶ 1, 8 (Moreno Valley (ONT6) Fulfillment Center; “Once I go through the 

turnstiles at the entrance . . . , I go straight to the Main Breakroom without clocking in.”); Ex. 5, 

Declaration of Barbara Arana at ¶¶ 1, 29 (San Bernardino (ONT2) Fulfillment Center; lockers 

and break room near the East doors); Ex. 6 Declaration of Nancy Aviles at ¶¶ 1, 7 (Newark 

(OAK5) Sorting Facility; “After dropping off my lunch in the Main Breakroom . . . , I go 

straight to the time clocks to clock in.”); Ex. 10, Declaration of Anmol Bhagal at ¶¶ 1, 6-8 

(Fresno (FAT1) Fulfillment Center; lockers and Main Breakroom outside of security 

checkpoint); Ex. 15, Declaration of Suzan Butler at ¶¶ 1, 21, 23 (Tracy (OAK4) Fulfillment 

Center; “The Main Breakroom is inside the facility, but outside of the security checkpoint in the 

side of the building.”)). Presumptively, employees could enter and exit the facilities without 

completing the exit security screening process if they only accessed the lockers, main 

breakrooms or other areas outside of the security checkpoints. In other words, after swiping in 

at the entrance turnstiles, employees could access the lockers and main breakrooms outside of 

the security checkpoints and then swipe out and exit the facilities without passing through the 

metal detectors, so long as they did not enter the secured area beyond the security checkpoints. 

As a result, Plaintiffs’ theory of control for the time period between swiping-in and clocking-in 

cannot be certified in the absence of any required exit security screening. Even if employees 

were required to swipe in and swipe out to access the facilities, such time does not amount to 

control. See, e.g., Griffin v. Sachs Elec. Co., 390 F.Supp.3d 1070, 1091 (N.D. Cal. 2019) 

(finding process requiring workers to badge-in and badge-out at security gate “analogous to 

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scanning or flashing an employee badge to enter a compound or campus” and finding the time 

spent badging-in and badging-out did not equate to control). 

Moreover, there is no uniformity in employee choices made during the time period after 

entry and before clocking in that would make Plaintiffs’ theory appropriate for resolution on a 

class wide basis. (See, e.g., Doc. 120, Ex. 3, Declaration of Michael Allgayer at ¶ 6 (“I usually 

arrive at ONT8 [Moreno Valley] an hour before my shift starts so I can get a really good 

parking spot. I usually clock in five minutes before my shift start time. When I arrive early, 

before I clock in, I hang out in the ‘fun zone’ in the facility which has ping-pong tables and an 

arcade with video games.” ); Ex. 4, Declaration of Alma Angeles at ¶ 6 (“I arrive at Amazon’s 

ONT6 [Moreno Valley] Fulfillment Center parking lot around 5:00 p.m. for my 6:00 p.m. shift. 

I arrive early because I prefer to have dinner in the breakroom before I clock in for my shift. I 

also like to sit and talk with my friends before starting work.”); Ex. 13, Declaration of Thomas 

Bowlin at ¶¶ 1, 6 (San Bernardino (ONT5) Sorting Center; “I usually arrive at ONT5 anywhere 

between one to three hours before my shift starts because I like to be early and use the 

breakrooms to watch the news on television. I usually end up clocking in five minutes before 

my shift start time.”).

Similarly, at the end of an employee’s workday, the time spent after passing through exit 

security screening, but prior to swiping out to exit appears to suffer from the same substantive 

defect. As explained by Amazon’s expert, at the end of the workday, the employee clocks out 

and then may exit the facility through a turnstile, if one exists, where the exit time is recorded. 

(Doc. 123, Ex. A, Ward Expert Report.) The variability of activities during the time period 

from clock out to exit the facility suggests to the Court that common issues do not predominate. 

Amazon has presented evidence that after passing through exit security metal detectors, but 

before exiting, putative class members engage in a variety of activities. (See, e.g., Doc. 120, Ex. 

2, Alcala Decl. at ¶ 14 (“After clocking out [at San Bernardino (ONT2) Fulfillment Center], I 

walk through security . . . [A]fter going through security, I generally do not go right out the 

entrance doors. Instead, I go to retrieve my lunch bag and any other personal items near the 

Main Breakroom just inside the Main Entrance. I then exit the building and go home.”); Ex. 8, 

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Declaration of Kenneth Bahena at ¶ 13 (“After clocking out [and going through security

screening at Moreno Valley (ONT6) Fulfillment Center], I then go . . .to my locker. Once at my 

locker, I pick up my keys, cell phone and any other personal items I left and may talk to 

coworkers. I then exit the building to my car.”); Doc. 121, Ex. 43, Declaration of Efrain 

Gonzalez Decl. ¶ 14 (“After clocking out [at Patterson (OAK3) Fulfillment Center and] . . . after 

going through security, I generally do not go right out the entrance doors. Instead, I go to the 

lockers to retrieve my personal belongings. Sometimes, I sit and talk with some co-workers for a

few minutes before I leave. I then exit the building and go home.”); Doc. 122, Ex. 64, 

Declaration of Fidel Moya, Jr. at ¶ 17 (“After my work is finished and I clock out [at San

Bernardino (ONT2) Fulfillment Center], I usually go the restroom, go through the security area, 

and then go to the East break room on the other side. In the break room, I talk to a group of 

friends for a few minutes. Often we wait for our whole group of co-workers to get to the break 

room, grab our stuff, and then leave the facility together.”); Ex. 70, Declaration of Marcus Reed 

Decl. at ¶¶ 7, 15). (“ [O]ften after [clocking out at Eastvale (LGB3) Fulfillment Center and] 

going through security instead of going out the front doors, I go to the Main Breakroom and get 

my personal items . . . I will either sit for a few minutes or just leave through the nearby front 

entrance to the building.”). 

As to these two time periods—the time spent after swiping in and before clocking in and 

the time spent after passing through exit security screening, but prior to swiping out to exit—

Plaintiffs’ reliance on Morillion v. Royal Packing Co., 22 Cal.4th 575 (2000) and Ridgeway v. 

Walmart Inc., 946 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2020), to argue that an employee subject to an employer’s 

control does not have to be working during that time to be compensated is misplaced. Morillion 

involved the general question of whether the time agricultural employees were required to spend 

traveling on their employer’s buses was compensable because they were subject to control of 

their employer. 22 Cal.4th at 578. The employees in Morillion were required to travel on the 

buses to and from the fields where they were working and were effectively prohibited from 

using their travel time for their own purposes. Unlike Morillion, Amazon’s employees were not 

confined to the facilities with metal detectors either prior to clocking in or after passing through 

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the metal detectors and exiting. Instead, employees could decide what activities to engage in 

and when to leave at any time while outside of security checkpoints. 

Ridgeway is similarly unpersuasive for the pre-clock-in and post-security screening

periods of time. Ridgeway involved Wal–Mart’s written policy requiring its truck drivers to 

gain preapproval from management before taking a layover at home and subjecting drivers to 

disciplinary action for taking an unauthorized layover at home. Ridgeway, 946 F.3d at 1079. 

The Ninth Circuit found that because Wal-Mart’s policy dictated what drivers could do on 

layovers and restricted employees from complete freedom of movement during breaks it 

constituted control under California law. Id. at 1081. Here, Amazon did not constrain 

employees’ freedom of movement while outside of the security checkpoints and there is no 

indication that they were required to obtain permission before leaving the premises prior to 

clocking in or while outside of security checkpoints. 

Plaintiffs also contend that time spent traveling from the time clocks through the 

mandatory security exit procedure constitutes “work” under the applicable wage order definition 

of “suffered or permitted to work.” (Doc. 98-1 at 14-15.) Plaintiffs urge that “[w]hether such 

time constitutes ‘hours worked’ under California law under the ‘suffered or permitted to work’

test is also an issue that can be resolved on a class-wide basis.” (Id. at 15.) 

Even if Plaintiffs’ proposed exit screening classes were limited to the time spent after

clocking out and then traveling to and passing through metal detectors, the Court does not find 

that the requirements of commonality and predominance have been met. At first blush, the issue 

of whether time spent between clocking out and exiting through the metal detector/bag check 

screening constitutes “work” appears capable of class wide resolution. However, Plaintiffs 

have not presented evidence demonstrating a uniform exit security securing process or that 

employees suffered any delay in passing through the exit security screening. In contrast, 

Amazon has demonstrated that there is no uniform exit security process consistently applied at 

the relevant facilities throughout the class period. Specifically, Amazon has presented 

persuasive evidence that screening varied substantially at facilities with metal detectors 

depending upon the number of screening lanes, the facility’s layout, the procedures during busy 

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periods, and whether metal detectors were operational. The absence of a uniform policy 

consistently applied throughout the class period precludes resolution of Plaintiffs’ claims on a 

class wide basis and a class cannot be certified based on exit screening procedures. See Heredia 

v. Eddie Bauer LLC, No. 16-CV-06236-BLF, 2020 WL 127489, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 10, 2020) 

(“It is doubtful that the Court would have certified the class [when it did] had it understood that 

[Eddie Bauer] did not have a single uniform policy in place” because “[i]t is no longer accurate 

to say that this case involves ‘a uniform policy consistently applied’ throughout the class 

period.”); In re Autozone, Inc. Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litig., 2016 WL 4208200 

at *10 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2016) (decertifying a class where no uniform in place throughout the 

class period); see also Hubbs v. Big Lots Stores, Inc., 2017 WL 2304754 at *9 (C.D. Cal. May 

23, 2017) (denying class certification where plaintiffs failed to present “sufficient evidence to 

show that there was a common and consistent policy among Defendants to subject all 

employees at all of their stores to off-the-clock bag checks”); Quinlan v. Macy’s Corp. Servs., 

Inc., 2013 WL 11091572, at *4 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2013) (denying certification of a class of 

employees who were subject to off-the-clock searches finding plaintiffs had not satisfied the 

commonality requirement because stores “implement[ed] different strategies,” altered their 

strategies “depending on the time of day, day of the week, season, [and] level of traffic,” and 

some stores had no searches at all).

The record includes critical evidence demonstrating that between 2014 to present, during 

the proposed class period, the majority of the Sorting Facilities that operated with metal 

detectors have since turned off those detectors. (See Doc. 119-4, Carr Decl. at ¶ 3). The record 

also includes evidence that there were significant periods of time when the metal detectors at 

Sorting Facilities in Newark (OAK5) and San Bernardino (ONT5) were not operational. (See 

Doc. 120, Ex. 6, Aviles Decl. at ¶ 19 (“I do not think the ‘metal detectors’ even work and may 

not even be turned [on]. For the entire time I have worked at Amazon [Sorting Facility in 

Newark (OAK5)], I have never hear [sic] the metal detectors go off and it does not even seem to 

me that a security person is even watching them. Nobody checks our bags when we leave the 

building.”); Ex. 13, Bowlin Decl. at ¶ 12 (beginning two months prior to October 2019 there 

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had been “no security screening to exit ONT5”); Ex. 29, Declaration of Maria Cruz ¶ 18 (“they 

turned off the metal detectors about one month” prior to October 2019). 

Even if operational throughout the duration of the proposed class period, Amazon’s 

evidence demonstrates that there is no uniformity in application of the screening process among 

Amazon’s facilities that have metal detectors because the numbers of detectors and lanes vary. 

Some facilities have only two lanes and others have as many as ten lanes. (Doc. 119-4, Carr 

Decl. at ¶ 5.) For example, Amazon’s expert, Dr. Elizabeth Arnold, identified that the OAK3 

Fulfillment Center had 5 lanes, the ONT2 Fulfillment Center had 2 entrances with 4 lanes each, 

the LAX5 Sorting Center had 3 lanes, and the OAK5 Sorting Center—with non-operational 

metal detectors—had 4 lanes.7 (Doc. 123, Ex. B, Declaration of Elizabeth Arnold, M.S.

(“Arnold Decl.”), Table 1.) 

Plaintiffs contend that minor variances in how the mandatory screening procedures at 

facilities with active metal detectors are conducted do not defeat commonality, relying on Lao v. 

H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 2019 WL 7312623, at *1 (N.D. Cal. 2019). Lao involved 

H&M’s “alleged policy of requiring all retail employees to undergo a visual inspection by a 

manager (or other designated person) after they clock out—either at the end of a shift or at 

closing—but before they leave the H&M store where they work.” Id. at *1. H&M reportedly 

used “two types of security checks: (1) bag inspections, where only retail employees that have a 

bag must allow a manager to check the bag before leaving, and (2) visual inspections, where 

every retail employee—regardless of whether they have a bag—must inform a manager of when 

they leave, allowing the manager to observe their person.” Id. The plaintiff argued that, under 

California law, the time taken for the visual inspections and for any waiting prior to the 

inspections was compensable. H&M argued that the policy’s inconsistent application to various 

class members and across different times precluded a finding of commonality. The district court 

rejected H&M’s argument, finding that whether retail employees were required to tell a 

7 Additional examples: ONT8 Fulfillment Center with 6 lanes (Doc. 120, Ex. 3, Allgayer Decl. at ¶ 16; Ex. 

17, Cassino Decl. at ¶ 16); FAT1 Fulfillment Center with at least 8 lanes, some express (Doc. 120, Ex. 10, Bhagal

Decl.; Ex. 19. Cathcart Decl. at ¶ 27); and LGB3. Eastvale Fulfillment Center with approximately 10 lanes (Doc. 

122, Ex. 70, Reed Decl. at ¶ 23; Ex. 72, Robles Decl. at ¶ 22). 

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manager that they were leaving allowing the manager to see them, to stand in front of a security 

camera so they could be inspected remotely, or to be escorted to the exit had no material impact 

on the commonality analysis. The court found that these purported inconsistencies did not 

negate plaintiff’s allegations that, before they are permitted to leave, all class members must (1) 

inform a manager that they are leaving, and (2) submit to a visual inspection of their person. The 

court also found that the purported inconsistencies did not suggest that that the visual 

inspections were not mandatory. Id. at *5.

The instant action is distinguishable from Lao in two material respects. First, Amazon 

has presented cogent evidence that multiple facilities ceased using the metal detectors during the 

proposed class period. Second, Amazon has demonstrated that facilities did not require 

mandatory screening of employees during certain periods, such as to account for peak seasons 

when the lanes were subject to “flushing” to prevent long lines to pass through security. (See

Doc. 119-6, Declaration of Jimmy Oholt Decl. at ¶ 7 (During ‘Peak’ season . . . at ONT2 and 

LGB4 there is a ‘flush the line’ practice . . . “security officers would “flush” the lanes and push 

associates through the detectors without requiring them to undergo screening. If associates set 

off the metal detectors when security was pushing people through, those associates did not have 

to go through secondary screening.”) In short, there were periods of time in which the screening 

process was not mandatory or was not applied to all putative class members. Unlike in Lao, the 

absence of screening is an inconsistency in substance, not form. 

It appears from their reply that Plaintiffs attempt to account for the cessation in use of 

metal detectors—at least for the Sorting Centers—by arguing that “Defendants do not dispute 

that employees were required to pass through the security to leave the building at the end of 

their shifts, during meal periods, or during rest periods at facilities with working exit metal 

detectors.” (Doc. 128 at 5) (emphasis added). The Court construes the phrase “facilities with 

working exit metal detectors” as a proposed modification of the class definition for Classes 1 

through 4. The Court may consider class definitions first raised in a plaintiff's reply brief. See, 

e.g., Thomas & Thomas Rodmakers, Inc. v. Newport Adhesives & Composites, Inc., 209 F.R.D. 

159, 161 n. 1 (C.D. Cal. 2002) (court considered amended definition proposed reply brief). 

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Moreover, the Court has the authority to redefine a class, and there is no reason the Court should 

not consider the amended definition arguably proposed by a plaintiff. See Garcia v. 

Schlumberger Lift Sols., 2021 WL 1259737, at *18 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2021). Nevertheless, the 

Court finds that the proposed amended definition does not alleviate the problem because it fails

to account for periods of time during which metal detectors may have been working or 

operational, but were not used, e.g., when lanes were “flushed.” 

Amazon additionally contends that the proposed classes cannot be certified because 

employees were not required to bring anything that needed screening onto the floor. Amazon 

argues that this fact matters because whether an associate had a choice in dictating the amount 

of time spent in screening is highly relevant to, if not dispositive of, the control inquiry. The 

Court does not find this argument wholly persuasive. In Frlekin, 8 Cal.5th 1038, the California 

Supreme Court, at the request of the Ninth Circuit, decided the following question of California 

law: “Is time spent on the employer’s premises waiting for, and undergoing, required exit 

searches of packages, bags, or personal technology devices voluntarily brought to work purely 

for personal convenience by employees compensable as ‘hours worked’ within the meaning of 

Wage Order 7?” Id. at 1042. The California Supreme Court concluded that the answer to this 

certified question was yes. Id. At issue was Apple’s policy, which required all employees to 

undergo searches of their personal packages and bags by a manager or security team member, 

having employees remove any type of item sold by Apple, and verification of their personal 

technology with a personal technology log before leaving the premises for any reason, including 

break, lunch and end of shift. Frlekin, 8 Cal.5th at 1044.

After the California Supreme Court answered the certified question, the Ninth Circuit

held that time spent by class members waiting for and undergoing exit searches pursuant to 

Apple’s policy was compensable as “hours worked” under California law. Frlekin., 979 F.3d 

639, 644 (9th Cir. 2020). The Ninth Circuit also indicated that disputed facts regarding whether 

some class members did not bring bags or devices to work, were never required to participate in 

checks, or worked in stores with remote break rooms where they stored their belongings 

“pertain solely to individual remedies, not to the main legal question as to class-wide relief.” 

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Id.; see also Figueroa v. Delta Galil USA, Inc., 2021 WL 1232695, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 

2021) (same). The Court recognizes that the bag search policy in Frlekin involved more 

extensive search procedures than those presented by Amazon’s use of metal detectors. 

However, Frlekin suggests that the voluntary actions of employees to avoid extensive screening 

is not dispositive of the main legal question. 

Amazon further asserts that predominance cannot be met because the bulk of the 

putative class are uninjured given that their exit screening experience consisted of walking 

through a metal detector, as if through a doorway, with virtually no delay. “When considering if 

predominance has been met, a key factual determination courts must make is whether the 

plaintiffs’ statistical evidence sweeps in uninjured class members.” Olean, 993 F.3d at 791. As 

the Ninth Circuit explained, the preponderance standard flows from the Supreme Court’s 

emphasis that the evidence used to satisfy predominance be “sufficient to sustain a jury finding 

as to [liability] if it were introduced in each [plaintiff's] individual action.” Id. at 787 (emphasis 

and citation omitted). Plaintiffs therefore “must establish, predominantly with generalized 

evidence, that all (or nearly all) members of the class” suffered injury as a result of Amazon’s 

exit screening. Id. at 791. Although the Ninth Circuit has not established a threshold for how 

great a percentage of uninjured class members would be enough to defeat predominance, “it 

must be de minimis.” Id. at 792. Absent a bright-line or numerical rule, the Ninth Circuit held 

that if the plaintiffs were “unable to show impact for more than one-fourth of the class members, 

predominance has not been met.” Id. at 794.

Plaintiffs counter that Olean is inapplicable because it involved anti-trust claims and,

under Plaintiffs’ theories of liability, all of the putative class members have been injured if 

liability is established. (Doc. 159 at 3.) Plaintiffs assert that questions of liability and 

individualized damages issues based on variances in the amount of time taken for bag 

inspections do not defeat predominance, citing Lao, 2019 WL 7312623, at *7. (Doc. 128 at 9-

10.) 

Although Plaintiffs prefer otherwise, the Court finds Olean applicable to the class 

certification analysis. In Olean, the Ninth Circuit made clear that the Court must find by a 

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preponderance of evidence that Plaintiffs have established predominance under Rule 23(b)(3). 

This standard “best accords with the Supreme Court’s warning that class certification is ‘proper 

only if the trial court is satisfied, after a rigorous analysis, that the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) 

have been satisfied.’” Olean, 993 F.3d at 785 (citation omitted). “[A] ‘rigorous analysis’ of 

predominance requires ‘judging the persuasiveness of the evidence presented’ for and against 

certification.” Id. “When considering if predominance has been met, a key factual 

determination courts must make is whether the plaintiffs’ statistical evidence sweeps in 

uninjured class members.” Id. at 791. 

Plaintiffs also assert that Amazon’s arguments that class members whose screening 

experience consisted of walking through a metal detector without stopping are uninjured is 

wrong because it ignores the waiting time and the actual time going through the screening 

process. Plaintiffs contend that waiting time and actual time are compensable under Frlekin,

979 F.3d at 644, which found that time spent by class members waiting for and undergoing exit 

searches is compensable as “hours worked” under California law. However, Frlekin did not 

foreclose consideration on remand of “whether time spent by class members undergoing a 

search is de minimis.” Id. 

Having conducted a rigorous analysis of the evidence, the Court finds that Plaintiffs 

failed to establish predominantly, that all or nearly all members of the proposed class suffered 

injury by passing through the metal detectors. As a practical matter, for those facilities without 

operational metal detectors, there can be no evidence of injury. For those facilities with 

operational metal detectors, Plaintiffs submitted declarations detailing their own individualized 

experiences with exit screening but failed to provide the Court with representative or statistical 

evidence demonstrating that all or nearly all putative class members were injured or suffered 

any delay. Plaintiffs’ declarations are not sufficiently specific to support their theory of injury 

resulting from any waiting time or actual time spent going through the screening process. 

Instead, Plaintiffs’ statements are ambiguous, referring generally to “minutes” spent from clock 

out through exit security. Plaintiffs Avalos, Gianini, Palma, Trevino and Ward each declared: “I 

estimate that it took a few minutes from the time I clocked out until I [went] through the exit 

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security process depending on the lines at the metal detectors.” (Doc. 98-13, Avalos Decl. at ¶

6; 98-14, Gianini Decl. at ¶ 6; 98-15, Palma Decl. at ¶ 6; 98-17, Trevino Decl. at ¶ 6; 98-18, 

Ward Decl. at ¶ 6.) Plaintiff Quinteros’ declaration is equally unavailing because in alleging 

that the exit security process “usually took a couple minutes to complete,” she lumps together 

all time spent exiting the facility, including passing through the metal detectors and then 

proceeding to the break room and lockers, picking up her items and then leaving the facility. 

(Doc. 98-16, Quinteros Decl. at ¶ 5.) She also vaguely alleged that the security screening 

process “generally took at least two to three minutes to complete.” (Id. at ¶ 6.) Plaintiffs’ 

expert, Dr. Kriegler, also provides no representative or statistical evidence reflecting time spent 

in exit security screening, envisioning only that a sampling of historical surveillance footage 

could be used to measure how long it takes people to go through the mandatory security check 

process. (Doc. 107-1, Kriegler Decl. at ¶¶ 53, 54.) He did not see surveillance footage of the 

facilities. (Id. at ¶ 67.)

In contrast, Amazon’s expert, Dr. Ward, analyzed the time between clocking out and 

exiting facilities and found that, over the period from July 12, 2013 to August 11, 2019, 89.5% 

of all associates had a “minimum exit interval time . . . less than one minute.” (Doc. 123 at 14

and Table 5, Ex. A, Ward Expert Report.) Similarly, Amazon’s expert, Elizabeth Arnold, 

following studies of a representative sample of the facilities, found that 81% of the employees 

walked through the metal detectors with no delay,” and the “majority of time, passing through

the metal detectors takes seconds.” (Doc. 123, Ex. B, Arnold Decl. at ¶¶ 129, 133). 

Courts have rejected certification of classes where individual issues predominated, such 

as whether the amount of time allocated to the security checks was de minimis. See, e.g.,

Hubbs, 2017 WL 2304754, at *9 (denying certification to proposed security inspection class 

where individual issues, including whether the amount of time allocated to the bag checks was 

de minimis, predominated); but see Bebber v. Dignity Health, 2021 WL 1187268, at *17 (E.D. 

Cal. Mar. 30, 2021) (finding issue of whether violation was de minimis suitable for resolution 

across the entire class); Figueroa, 2021 WL 1232695, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2021) (finding 

that although the de minimis doctrine raised individual liability questions around class members 

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for whom bag inspection was a matter of seconds, the liability question did not preclude class 

certification), Lao, 2019 WL 7312623, at *7 (“Rather ... it raises common questions, such as: (a) 

under these circumstances, how much time would constitute a non-compensable ‘brief’ period 

of time, and (b) whether it be administratively feasible for [the employer] to take additional 

steps to compensate employees for visual inspections.”).

Class 2. Unpaid Wages Class (Controlled Meal Periods)

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who took a meal period and who were required to go 

through a metal detector security process to leave the facility during such meal 

period and were not paid for the time of such meal period.

Plaintiffs contend that during their meal periods, Amazon did not relinquish all control 

over their activities because Amazon restrained employees from leaving the work premises 

without passing through the mandatory security exit procedures. (Doc. 98-1 at 15.) Plaintiffs 

rely on Bono Enterprises, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 32 Cal.App.4th 968, 968-72 (1995), to support their 

position. In Bono, the court considered a policy where temporary workers were not given a 

security clearance and were required to remain on the plant premises during their 30-minute 

lunch period unless they made prior arrangements to reenter the plant after leaving for lunch. Id.

at 972. The court determined that “[w]hen an employer directs, commands or restrains an 

employee from leaving the work place during his or her lunch hour and thus prevents the 

employee from using the time effectively for his or her own purposes, that employee remains 

subject to the employer’s control . . . [and] must be paid.” Id. at 975.

Bono is distinguishable from the instant case. According to the record, Amazon 

associates clock out for meal breaks, cannot clock back in until 30 minutes have passed, and 

have a three-minute grace period to clock back in. (Doc. 123, Ex. D, Carr Tr. 67:13–68:6; Ex. C, 

Frauson Tr. 20:1–17.) Amazon’s policies also prohibit “off-the-clock” work by associates. 

(Doc. 119-2, Ex. Y [Sealed].)

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Additionally, there is no evidence that Amazon requires employees to remain within its 

facilities during meal breaks or otherwise restrict whether those breaks can be taken outside of 

the facility. Anecdotal evidence bears this out. (See, e.g., Doc. 120, Ex. 1., Aceves Decl. at ¶ 

25 (“I normally eat my lunch outside . . . I can leave the facility during my meal break if I want 

to . . . .); Ex. 5, Arana Decl. at ¶ 25 (“many times I will go to my car and go buy food nearby . . . 

and come back. Sometimes I just go sit outside.”); Doc. 121, Ex. 35, Dominguez Decl. at ¶ 13 

(“I pick up my lunch from the Break Room where I keep my backpack, heat it up in one of the 

microwaves, and head outside to the smoking and seating area which right outside the 

building.”); Ex. 36, Dunn Decl. at ¶ 25 (“For my meal break, I spend it outside at the tables . . . 

.”); Ex. 41, Garay Decl. at ¶ 14 (“I usually grab a snack from the Main Breakroom and take it to 

my car or hang out outside on the steps and socialize.”). Further, Amazon’s expert, Dr. Ward,

provided evidence that Amazon’s associates take fully compliant meal breaks after passing 

through screening. (Doc. 123 at 430, Ex. A, Ward Expert Report.) Almost all employees exited 

the facility at least once during lunch, and more than half of the employees in the data had

exited the facility for “a full 30 minutes” during at least one of their meal breaks. (Id.)

As shown above in Class 1, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have not met their burden of 

demonstrating common questions predominate for controlled meal period claims premised on 

exit security screening. 

Class 3. Meal Period Violations for Controlled Meal Periods

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who worked a shift longer than six hours and who were 

required to go through a metal detector security process to leave the facility during 

such meal periods and were not paid a meal period premium for such shifts.

Plaintiffs allege Amazon is liable for meal period premiums for each shift for which a 

meal period was required under Labor Code § 226.7, i.e., shifts over six hours, by restraining 

class members from leaving the premises for meal periods without first going through the 

mandatory security exit and limiting where they can take a meal break. For the reasons 

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discussed above, the Court finds that this class cannot be certified. Amazon authorizes 30 

minutes for meal breaks (with a 3-minute grace period) and associates were not required to 

remain on the premises during their meal period. Additionally, the Court has found that 

proposed classes based on exit screening are not appropriate for class certification. 

Class 4. Rest Periods Violations for Controlled Rest Periods

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who worked a shift longer than three and one-half hours 

and were subject to a policy that leaving company premises without permission 

during assigned work hours was a serious infraction that subjected them to 

termination or who were required to go through a metal detector security process 

to leave the facility during the rest period and were not paid a rest period premium 

for all such shifts.

The parties do not dispute that under California law, an employer must authorize and 

permit each non-exempt employee a 10-minute rest period for each four hours of work. 

Plaintiffs contend, however, that Amazon’s use of mandatory security exit procedures prevented 

employees from taking their rest periods off premises without going through mandatory security 

exit procedures. Plaintiffs further contend that Amazon uniformly applied a policy and practice 

of limiting where an employee can take a rest break and requiring employees to remain on 

premises. Plaintiffs rely on Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., 2 Cal.5th 257, 269 (2016), 

as modified on denial of reh’g (March 15, 2017), for the proposition that during rest periods 

employers must relieve employees of all duties and relinquish control over how employees 

spend their time. (Doc. 98-1 at 18.) 

Plaintiffs’ arguments are not persuasive. First, representative evidence from Amazon’s 

expert, Elizabeth Arnold, demonstrated that the majority of time passing through the metal 

detectors takes seconds. (Doc. 123, Ex. B, Arnold Decl. at ¶ 133.) Plaintiffs also do not allege 

that this process took more than “a few minutes” from the time they clocked out until they went 

through the exit security process, which included time to walk to the metal detectors. (Doc. 98-

13, Avalos Decl. at ¶ 6 (“a few minutes”); 98-14, Gianini Decl. at ¶ 6 (same); 98-15 Palma 

Decl. at ¶ 6 (same); 98-16, Quinteros Decl. at ¶ ¶ 5 (“couple minutes;” “two to three minutes”); 

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98-17, Trevino Decl. at ¶ 6 (“a few minutes”); 98-18, Ward Decl. at ¶ 6 (“a few minutes”). This 

general information, along with the undisputed fact that Amazon provided its employees 15-

minute rest breaks undercuts any inference that its exit security screening resulted in liability for 

failing to provide fully compliant 10-minute rest periods. Figueroa, 2021 WL 1232695, at *6.

Second, Plaintiffs’ reliance on Augustus is misdirected. Augustus involved security 

guards who were required to remain on call even during rest periods. 2 Cal.5th at 260. Unlike 

the security guards in Augustus, and as noted, Amazon provides longer rests break than required 

by California law, authorizing 15 minutes for rest breaks, (Doc. 123, Ex. D, Carr Tr. 67:7– 9.), 

there is no evidence that Amazon employees were required to remain on call and, as discussed 

below, rest breaks can be taken outside the facility. As Amazon argues, even if associates were 

subject to brief delays while leaving the facility for breaks, individualized questions about 

which employees did not in fact receive a full rest break or were genuinely limited in what they 

could do for their breaks, predominate over any common questions. 

The Court recognizes, however, that the proposed rest break class is alternatively 

premised on a purported “policy that leaving company premises without permission during 

assigned work hours was a serious infraction that subjected them to termination.” Although 

Plaintiffs claim that Amazon has not disputed the existence of such a policy, with the exception 

of Plaintiff Linda Quinteros, the declarations submitted by Plaintiffs do not indicate that 

employees were required to ask permission to leave the premises during rest periods, only that 

they had to go through exit security screening. 8 (See generally Doc. 98-13, Avalos Decl.; 98-

14, Gianini Decl.; 98-15, Palma Decl.; 98-17, Trevino Decl.; 98-18, Ward Decl.). 

Plaintiffs have not presented evidence that employees were terminated or otherwise 

subject to disciplinary action if they left to take their rest breaks outside the facility without first 

seeking permission. In other words, Plaintiffs have not persuasively demonstrated that any such 

policy was enforced. At oral argument, Plaintiffs represented that Amazon’s person most 

8 Plaintiff Quinteros, who worked at Amazon’s Patterson facility (OAK3), claims she was not permitted to 

leave the facility during rest breaks. (Doc. 98-16, Quinteros Decl. at ¶ 13 (“we were not permitted to leave the 

facility premises during rest breaks”). 

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knowledgeable, Michele Frauson, testified that Amazon’s policies were provided to employees 

during the on-boarding process, including its policy that leaving the premises without 

permission was a serious infraction, and that employees were required to comply with those 

policies. A review of the relevant testimony does not support Plaintiffs’ underlying contention 

that Amazon’s policy regarding leaving the premises without permission was, in fact, enforced 

for rest breaks. Rather, Ms. Frauson testified only generally that Amazon expects its employees 

to adhere to its policies. (Doc. 98-3 at 51, Exhibit 4 to Dion-Kindem Decl., Frauson Tr. 62:17-

19.) 

Critically, Amazon has submitted evidence from putative class members who left the 

facility during rest breaks with no mention of permission being required or that they were 

terminated or disciplined for doing so. (See generally Doc. 123, Ex. GG.) Amazon also has 

submitted declarations from putative class members from the Patterson facility (OAK3), where 

Plaintiff Quinteros worked, who indicated that they could leave the facility during rest breaks 

with no mention of permission. (See, e.g., Doc. 121, Jensen Decl. at ¶ 16 (“I can also go outside 

. . . .); 122, Ex. 83, Valencia Decl. at ¶ 16 (“I could also leave the facility for my breaks and go 

outside and/or to my car, if I wanted to.”); Ex. 91, Zamarron Decl. at ¶ 14 (“For my [rest] 

breaks, I either go to the locker room at the entrance of OAK3 or my car, depending on if I 

drove or not”). Amazon’s expert, Dr. Ward, found evidence that 51.3% of all employees exited

the facility outside of meal times for at least 10 minutes and, for those employees with 50 shifts 

or more, 73.7% of those employees exited for at least 10 minutes at some time during their 

employment over the period July 12, 2013 through August 11, 2019. Doc. 123 at 16-17, Ex. A, 

Ward Expert Report). 

In the absence of evidence that Amazon uniformly enforced any policy requiring 

permission to leave the facility during rest breaks, there does not appear to be a question that 

requires common resolution by the Court. “[T]he mere existence of a facially defective written 

policy—without any evidence that it was implemented in an unlawful manner—does not 

constitute significant proof ... that a class of employees was subject to an unlawful practice.” 

Davidson v. O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC, 968 F.3d 955, 968 (9th Cir. 2020) (internal 

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quotation marks and citation omitted). Any suggestion that requiring employees to pass through 

metal detectors equates with requiring employees to obtain permission before leaving the 

premises is not persuasive. 

2. Rounding Classes (5 & 7)

Class 5. Improper Rounding Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who were subject to a rounding practice that resulted in 

them being paid less than they would have received had no such rounding practice 

been utilized for such employees. 

Class 7. Third Rest Period Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who were scheduled to work a 10-hour shift and worked 

more than 10 hours and who were not authorized or permitted to take a third 

uninterrupted, duty-free, and control-free 10-minute rest period and did not receive 

one hour of pay at the class member’s regular rate of compensation for such day.

Plaintiffs contend that Amazon implemented a uniform policy and practice of 

automatically rounding time-keeping entries, generally to conform to shift schedules, and that 

such policy resulted in class members being paid less than all hours they worked (Class 5) and 

denied class members who were scheduled to work 10-hour shifts, but in reality worked more 

than 10 hours, a third rest period (Class 7). 

California does not have a statute or regulation expressly addressing the permissibility of 

using a rounding policy, but state courts have followed the federal regulatory standard. See See's 

Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court, 210 Cal.App.4th 889, 903 (2012) (“The policies 

underlying the federal regulation—recognizing that time rounding is a practical method for 

calculating work time and can be a neutral calculation tool for providing full payment to 

employees—apply equally to employee-protective policies embodied in California Labor law.”). 

The relevant regulation states:

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It has been found that in some industries, particularly where time clocks are used, 

there has been the practice for many years of recording the employees’ starting time 

and stopping time to the nearest 5 minutes, or to the nearest one-tenth or quarter of 

an hour. Presumably, this arrangement averages out so that the employees are fully 

compensated for all the time they actually work. For enforcement purposes this 

practice of computing working time will be accepted, provided that it is used in 

such a manner that it will not result, over a period of time, in failure to compensate 

the employees properly for all the time they have actually worked.

29 C.F.R. § 785.48(b). “[A]n employer’s rounding practices comply with § 785.48(b) if the 

employer applies a consistent rounding policy that, on average, favors neither overpayment nor 

underpayment.” Alonzo v. Maximus, Inc., 832 F.Supp.2d 1122, 1126 (C.D. Cal. 2011) (citations 

omitted).

Plaintiffs acknowledge that Amazon rounds time punches up and down, which allows 

associates to both punch in late and punch out early. (Doc. 110-1 at 7). Plaintiffs essentially 

contend, however, that this rounding policy underpays employees and, in certain instances, 

deprives employees of a third rest break. Plaintiffs provide a declaration from Brian Kriegler, 

Ph.D., opining that 88.0% of putative class members had fewer hours on the clock based on 

rounded timestamps and were potentially underpaid due to rounding (60.1% of employee shifts, 

71.4% of employee workweeks, and 88.0% of employees had fewer hours on the clock using 

rounded timestamps) and that 28.6% of putative class members had a shift length over 10 hours 

based on rounded timestamps, but was less than or equal to 10 hours based on rounded time 

stamps. (Doc. 107-1 at 20-21, 23.) 

Amazon does not dispute the existence of its rounding policy and instead points out that 

Plaintiffs’ rounding classes (Classes 5 and 7) rely on an assumption that Amazon’s “uniform 

rounding policy” resulted in employees being “routinely underpaid,” and deprived of a third rest 

break when their shift exceeded 10 hours. (Doc. 119 at 21-22.) Citing See’s Candy, Amazon

argues that it is only liable if its policy consistently deprived employees of pay for “time they 

have actually worked.” (Id.) Amazon urges that the existence of an unlawful rounding policy

requires “foundational evidence” that employees were actually working when they were clocked 

in and were not being paid due to rounding, thus requiring individualized inquiries. (Id. at 22.) 

Amazon provides evidence that some employees clocked in early, but spent that time engaging 

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in non-work activities, such as socializing, getting coffee, grabbing a snack or using the 

restroom. Similarly, Amazon provides evidence that some employees engaged in a variety of 

non-work activities at the end of their shifts, but before clocking out, such as socializing or 

visiting the breakrooms. (Id. at 23.) 

Amazon asserts that district courts within this Circuit have denied certification of classes 

that require similar individualized inquiries. For example, In Pryor v. Aerotek Scientific, LLC, 

278 F.R.D. 516 (C.D. Cal. 2011), the court concluded that individual questions predominated 

where the evidence showed that associates would log in to their work computers upon arriving 

at work, but then spend time eating or socializing before accepting calls. Id. at 535–36. The 

Pryor court found there appeared to be too many variations to determine if an employee was 

paid for fewer hours than actually worked, including whether they performed non-work 

activities. Id. at 536. Likewise, in Shiferaw v. Sunrise Senior Living Management, Inc., 2014

WL 12585796, at *9–11 (C.D. Cal. June 11, 2014), the court denied certification of a rounding 

class where variation existed as to whether employees were actually working when they had 

clocked in before their shifts started or had clocked out after their shifts ended, where evidence 

showed that some employees clocked in early, but spent that time talking to co-workers, 

drinking coffee, talking on the phone, or waiting for their shifts to start. Id. at *9.

Plaintiffs contend that the Ninth Circuit in Sali v. Corona Regional Medical Center, 909 

F.3d 996 (9th Cir. 2018), recently rejected an argument similar to Amazon’s that employees are 

not working when engaging in personal activities. (Doc. 128 at 13.) In Sali, the Ninth Circuit 

considered certification of a rounding-time class and found that the district court erred by 

assuming that the only question to be decided was whether employees engaged in work 

activities even if they were not required to do so. Id. at 1010. The Sali court identified that 

under California law, time is compensable when an employee is working or under the control of 

his or employer. Accordingly, employees were also actually working if they were subject to the 

employer’s control even if they were not engaging in work activities. In so identifying, the Sali 

court determined that the district court failed to consider whether the employees could establish 

on a classwide basis that they were subject to the employer’s control, such as if they were 

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required to remain on premises during the grace period, even if they were not always engaged in 

work-related activities during that time. Id. The Ninth Circuit indicated that the “employer 

control” question required “an employer-focused inquiry into whether [the employer] had a 

policy or practice that restricted [employees] in a manner that amounted to employer control 

during the period between their clock-in and clock-out times and their rounded shift-start and 

shift-end times” and that determination of this question did not depend on individualized factual 

questions. Id. at 1010-11. 

As to the question of whether employees were actually working, the Court finds that 

Amazon has demonstrated that individualized inquiries would be required to determine whether 

its employees were actually working during those times when they clocked-in early or clockedout late. See Shiferaw, 2014 WL 12585796, at *9. Plaintiffs attempt to distinguish Shiferaw by 

asserting that the court found common questions as to rounding. (Doc. 128 at 15.) While 

Plaintiffs are correct, the Shiferaw court ultimately found that individualized inquiries 

predominated in resolving the claims of the rounding class and denied certification on that basis. 

Shiferaw, 2014 WL 12585796, at *9. Moreover, in this case, Plaintiffs have not demonstrated 

that the putative class members were working or expected to be working during the time they 

were clocked in before their shifts began. Indeed, Plaintiffs’ own declarations do not provide 

affirmative evidence that they were working after clocking-in, but before shift start. (See Doc. 

98-13, Avalos Decl. at ¶ 4; 98-14, Gianini Decl. at ¶ 3; 98-15, Palma Decl. at ¶ 3; 98-16, 

Quinteros Decl. at ¶ 4 (indicating that after clocking-in, it would then take “at least five more 

minutes to walk to my work location and prepare for the shift start-up meeting at the scheduled 

shift start time”); 98-17, Trevino Decl. at ¶ 3; 98-18, Ward Decl. at ¶ 8 (“In order to be on time 

for my shift start up meeting, or stand-up meeting, I would have to arrive at the facility early so 

I could go through the above process [swiping badge to pass through the turnstile to get to the 

production floor in the facility] and clock in and then walk to my assigned work location. 

Amazon would not record this at time worked, as my time punches for before my scheduled 

shift time would be rounded forward to reflect the scheduled shift start time.”). 

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Further, record evidence undermines assertions that employees who clocked-in early 

were, in fact, working as associates testified that they could not begin work until after the standup meeting at shift start because the conveyor belts only begin moving after the meeting, (Doc. 

121. Ex. 37, Flores Decl. ¶ 12 (“I do not work before the stand-up starts and we cannot do any 

because the conveyer belts are not functioning.”), or they do not receive their assignment for the 

day, or receive their scanner, until the stand-up, (Doc.122, Ex. 84, Vazquez Decl. ¶ 6 (“There is 

no work for me to do until after the stand-up, because my work assignment is posted on a board 

in the area where the stand-up meeting is held.”); Ex. 81, Tilley Decl. ¶ 6 (“There is no work for 

me to do until after the stand-up, because at the beginning of my shift, I am supposed to go to 

stand-up first . . . to get my scanner.”). The time entries proffered by Plaintiffs are not sufficient 

on their own to demonstrate that the proposed class members must be paid between timestamps. 

Shiferaw 2014 WL 12585796, at *10 (finding “time entries by themselves do not demonstrate 

that proposed subclass members must be paid for the time spent between the time punch and the 

employee’s scheduled start time”).

As to the “employer control” question, this case is distinct from the example of control 

cited in Sali, i.e., employees required to remain on the premises during the grace period. 909 

F.3d at 1010. Here, there is no evidence that employees could not leave during the grace period 

or were otherwise prevented from using the grace period to clock-in late or clock-out early and 

leave the premises. Indeed, Amazon has presented evidence that employees used the fiveminute rounded grace period to clock in late without consequence. (See, e.g., Doc. 122, Ex. 73,

Rocha Decl. ¶ 8 (clocking in after shift start “does not affect my pay”); Ex. 92, Zarate Decl. ¶ 6 

(“Even though I typically clock in after my 6:30 a.m. shift start time, it is not a big deal. 

Nobody cares.”); Doc.120, Ex. 18, Castelan Decl. ¶ 9 (despite arriving early, “sit in my car 

until” after shift start)) or to leave early (See Doc. 120, Ex. 4, Angeles Decl. ¶ 14 (“My shift 

officially ends at 4:30 a.m. I almost always leave early.” “Because of the 5 minute grace period, 

I can clock out at 4:25 a.m. and still get credit to working to 4:30 a.m.”). In short, there is no 

indication that Amazon uniformly exercises control over employees during the grace periods or 

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that the rounding policy had a uniform impact on employees. Accordingly, determination of the 

employer-control question is not readily capable of class wide resolution. 

For these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have not met their burden of 

demonstrating common questions predominate for claims premised on its rounding claims. 

3. Meal Break Waiver Class

Class 6. Invalid Second Meal Period Waiver Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who signed any meal period waiver in the forms attached 

as Exhibit 12 to the Declaration of Peter R. Dion-Kindem in Support of Motion for 

Class Certification and worked more than 10 hours in a day, did not receive a 

second 30 minute meal period, and did not receive one hour of pay at the class 

member’s regular rate of compensation for such day.

Plaintiffs seek to certify the subclass of employees who executed specific meal break 

waiver forms and who worked more than 10 hours a day and were not provided with a second 

30-minute meal period. (Doc. 98-1 at 20.) The specific meal break waiver forms at issue are 

attached as Exhibit 12 to the declaration of Peter Dion-Kindem in support of the class 

certification motion, one signed in 2017 and one signed in 2018. (Doc. 98-3, Ex. 12.) Plaintiffs 

contend that these meal break waiver forms are facially invalid and unenforceable because, in 

addition to being ambiguous and self-contradictory, they fail to accurately disclose employees’ 

meal break rights and also purport to waive rights which cannot be waived. (Doc. 128 at 15.) 

Plaintiffs assert that whether such waivers are legally effective is a legal issue that the Court can 

resolve on a class-wide basis simply by examining the waivers and applying applicable meal 

period waiver requirements.

Amazon counters that whether a waiver is “ambiguous” requires an individualized 

assessment of the waiver and each associate’s interpretation and understanding of it, citing 

California Labor Code § 512. Because California law requires only “mutual consent”—not a 

writing—to waive a meal period, Amazon asserts that determining whether consent was given 

would necessitate individualized, associate-by-associate and shift-by-shift inquiries. Amazon 

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further asserts that determining the validity of the waiver is only the first step, and Plaintiffs 

“must also show that they can prove on a classwide basis who was entitled to, but did not 

receive, a second meal break—which Plaintiffs do not even attempt to do.” (Doc. 119 at 26.) 

Amazon therefore concludes that these individualized issues preclude certification. 

The issue of whether these specific meal break waiver forms are facially valid presents a 

common question capable of class-wide resolution. See Garcia v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2018 

WL 4959824, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2018) (granting certification of class composed of 

employees who worked a 10-hour shift but were not given a second meal period based on an 

invalid meal waiver form; “overarching question of law is whether the meal waiver form was 

valid); Saechao v. Landry’s Inc, 2016 WL 1029479, at *4 (N.D. Cal Mar. 15, 2016) (rejecting 

defendant’s argument that meal break waiver theory relied on individual questions regarding 

each employee’s understanding of the effect of the meal-break waiver where theory turns on 

“the facial validity of the meal-break waiver form – a question of law capable of resolution on a 

class-wide basis.”); cf. Clark v. QG Printing II, LLC, , 2020 WL 5604290, at *16 (E.D. Cal. 

Sept. 18, 2020) (“it appears that determinations as to the validity of QG Printing's prospective 

waivers and QG Printing's failure to provide premium pay automatically will drive resolution of 

most—if not all—claims for the Meal Break Waiver Subclass and that any individualized 

inquiries would pertain primarily to damages (based on the number of meal breaks missed based 

on invalid waivers and the amount of premium payment improperly withheld). This limited 

question of facial validity does not depend upon an individualized assessment of each 

employee’s understanding of the waiver form. 

4. Wage Statement Class

Class 8. Direct Violation of Section 226(a)(2) Wage Statement Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. in California at any time during the period from July 12, 2016 

and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the Court who 

did not receive an itemized statement in writing accurately showing the total hours 

worked by the employee where the wage statements reflect a line item for regular 

hours worked and at least one other line item for other types of hours worked other 

than regular overtime or double time, such as shift differential hours worked.

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Plaintiffs allege that Amazon violated this section by failing to provide Plaintiffs and 

other class members with wage statements that accurately listed the total hours worked. (Doc. 

98-1 at 22.) Plaintiff Trevino provides an exemplar: his 4/21/2017 wage statement shows 70 

regular hours, 11.53 overtime hours, and 2.6 double time hours. It also reflects that every 

recorded hour of work qualified for a shift differential. Plaintiffs assert that although Plaintiff

Trevino worked a total of 84.13 hours during this pay period, when the hours listed are added 

together, they add up to 168.26 hours. (Doc. 98-17 at 9, Trevino Decl., Ex. 2.) Plaintiffs argue 

that the wage statement effectively “double-counted” the total hours worked when it reflected

shift pay hours and shift pay overtime hours in addition to regular and overtime hours. (Doc. 

98-1 at 23.) Plaintiffs assert that whether Amazon’s wage statements comply with Section 

226(a)(2) requirements is a legal issue that does not involve individualized issues but can be 

resolved as a matter of law through an examination of the wage statements. 

Amazon counters that Plaintiffs cannot establish commonality and predominance on this 

claim. Amazon asserts that Plaintiffs’ bid to certify this class rests on a false presumption that 

every class member suffered an injury because some wage statements did not include a “total 

hours worked” line item. According to Amazon, many associates received wage statements that 

explicitly listed total hours worked and, as of January 1, 2019, all Amazon wage statements 

displayed a total hours worked line. (Doc. 119 at 28; Doc. 119-3, Osborne Decl. at ¶ 5.) For 

those wage statements that did not explicitly list total hours worked, Amazon argues that Labor 

Code section 226(e)(2)(B) presumes injury only if the employee cannot “promptly and easily” 

determine from the wage statement the total hours worked. Amazon avers that associates could 

use simple arithmetic to determine the total hours worked and thus injury cannot be established. 

(Doc. 119 at 27.) Amazon also claims that Plaintiffs must prove that all class members were 

actually injured for purposes of Article III standing. 

California Labor Code section 226(a) requires an employer to provide his or her 

employee with an accurate itemized statement in writing showing total hours worked by the 

employee. Cal. Labor Code § 226(a)(2). An employee who is injured as a result of the 

employer’s “knowing and intentional failure” to comply with these requirements may recover 

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civil penalties. Id. § 226(e). An employee is deemed to suffer injury if the employer fails to 

provide the required information and the employee cannot “promptly and easily determine” the 

total amount of hours worked. Id. § 226(e)(2)(B)(i). 

Plaintiffs’ putative class premised on the failure to provide wage statements that 

accurately identified the total hours worked during the pay period in violation of California 

Labor Code section 226 implicates common questions of law and fact. See, e.g., Flores v. Dart 

Container Corp., 2021 WL 107239, at *3, *6 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2021) (finding class shared 

common legal questions, including whether defendants’ policy of failing to provide wage 

statements that accurately identified the total hours worked during the pay period violated 

California Labor Code section 226 and this question predominated over questions affecting only 

individual class members); Parker v. Cherne Contracting Corp., 2020 WL 6822913, at *11 

(N.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2020) (concluding that for purposes of class certification, whether wage 

statements at issue were legally deficient is a common question of law and fact that 

predominated over individual issues). Amazon’s argument that the wage statements comply 

with section 226 is a merits question. The Court finds that the question of whether the wage 

statements at issue, such as those provided in the exemplars from Plaintiff Trevino, complied 

with section 226 can be determined on a classwide basis. Arroyo v. Int'l Paper Co., 2019 WL 

1508457, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 4, 2019) (finding employer’s argument that injury could not be 

established from wage statement because simple arithmetic allowed the employee to ascertain 

all of the required information was a merits question, not a class certification determination; 

concluding plaintiff had presented a claim which was dependent on a common contention with 

respect to wage statements). It appears that the alleged inaccuracies described by Plaintiff 

Trevino are limited to a certain subset of wage statements and, at a minimum, do not include 

wage statements issued beginning January 1, 2019, which displayed a total hours worked line. 

The class definition will therefore need to be modified to capture wage statements listing shift 

pay differentials, but not listing a separate line item for “total hours worked,” and also limiting 

the class period through December 31, 2018. 

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The Court does not find persuasive Amazon’s assertions that the class should not be 

certified because any harm resulting from the alleged wage statement violations would turn on 

the individual circumstances of each class member and that there is no feasible and manageable 

mechanism for proving Article III standing for all class members at trial. In Magadia v. WalMart Associates, Inc., ---F.3d---, 2021 WL 2176584, at *8 (9th Cir. May 28, 2021), the Ninth 

Circuit rejected an identical argument that class members lacked Article III standing for § 

226(a) claims. As the Ninth Circuit explained, courts use a two-part inquiry to assess whether a 

statutory violation causes a concrete injury. Magadia, 2021 WL 2176584, at *8. Courts first 

consider “whether the statutory provisions at issue were established to protect . . . concrete 

interests (as opposed to purely procedural rights).” Magadia, 2021 WL 2176584, at *8 (quoting 

Robins v. Spokeo, Inc., 867 F.3d 1108, 1113 (9th Cir. 2017)). If so, then courts assesses 

“whether the specific procedural violations alleged in this case actually harm, or present a 

material risk of harm to, such interests.” Id. 

Applying the two-part inquiry, the Ninth Circuit in Magadia found that “§ 226(a) 

protects employees’ concrete interest in receiving accurate information about their wages in 

their pay statements.” Id. Further, the lack of the required information in the wage statement 

“runs the risk of leaving [plaintiffs] and other employees unable to determine whether” they 

were underpaid. Id. at *9. The Ninth Circuit found that even if an employer “pays its 

employees all wages owed, those employees suffer a real risk of harm if they cannot access the 

information required by § 226(a).” Id. Therefore, the Magadia court concluded that plaintiff 

had standing to bring his claims under Labor Code § 226(a) and that class members who could

establish § 226(a) injuries had standing to collect damages. Id. 

5. Derivative Classes

Class 9. Derivative Wage Statement Class

All members of any of Classes 1 through 7 who, during the period from July 12, 

2016 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the 

Court, were not provided with accurate itemized wage statements with all the 

information required by Labor Code Section 226(a)(1), (2), (5) and (9).

///

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Class 10. Section 203 Subclass

All members of any of Classes 1 through 7 who, during the period from July 12, 

2014 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the 

Court, were either voluntarily or involuntarily separated from their employment 

and did not timely receive all wages owing pursuant to Labor Code Section 201 or 

202.

Class 11. UCL Class

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time during 

the period from July 12, 2013 and ending on the date of certification or as otherwise 

determined by the Court who are owed restitution as a result of Defendants’ 

business acts and practices that are found to be unlawful, deceptive, and/or unfair.

For purposes of derivative Classes 9 and 10, the Court has found classwide certification 

appropriate only for Class 6 (Meal Period Waiver). For purposes of derivative Class 11, the Court 

has found classwide certification appropriate only for Class 6 (Meal Period Waiver) and, as 

modified, Class 8 (Wage Statements). 

C. Superiority

As stated above, the second part of certification under Rule 23(b)(3) is superiority. The 

superiority requirement tests whether “classwide litigation of common issues will reduce

litigation costs and promote greater efficiency.” Valentino v. Carter-Wallace, Inc., 97 F.3d

1227, 1234 (9th Cir. 1996). “If each class member has to litigate numerous and substantial 

separate issues to establish his or her right to recover individually a class action is not superior.”

Zinser v. Accufix Research Institute, Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1192 (9th Cir. 2001). 

Plaintiffs argue that a class action is the superior method of adjudication because their 

claims are based on common policies and practices and there is a strong likelihood that putative 

class members would not bring individual actions. Plaintiffs further argue that calculating 

damages is easily manageable, relying on the Declaration of Dr. Brian Kriegler. For Class 6 

(Meal Period Waivers), the number of second meal periods to which class members were 

entitled can be established by Amazon’s time records. For Class 8 (Wage Statements), statutory 

penalties recoverable under Section 226(e) can be calculated using the class members wage 

statements and Amazon’s payroll records. For Class 9 (Derivative Wage Statement), the 

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violations and amount of statutory penalties can be calculated using Amazon’s payroll records. 

For Class 10 (Termination Pay Claims), damages can be calculable from Amazon’s payroll 

records. For Class 11(UCL Claims), the UCL remedy can be calculated using the same 

methodology used in calculating the damages recoverable for substantive wage claims. (Doc. 

110-1).

Amazon counters that Plaintiffs have not presented a manageable trial plan, primarily 

taking issue with Dr. Kriegler’s expert report and the purported failure to address how second 

meal break waiver claims will be tried. Amazon also finds it troubling that Plaintiffs failed to 

account for Amazon’s individual defenses, including whether various iterations of the second 

meal period waivers were in fact ambiguous and unintelligible and whether an employee was 

able to determine the total hours worked on his wage statement using simple arithmetic.

Having considered Amazon’s arguments, the Court finds that classwide litigation will 

promote efficiency by addressing potential defenses to liability for the two non-derivative 

classes--Class 6 (Meal Period Waiver) and Class 8 (Wage Statement). Amazon has asserted 

defenses to the merits of these claims, arguing that the meal period waivers are valid and that 

associates could use simple arithmetic to determine the total hours worked on their wage 

statements. Resolution of such issues may streamline the litigation and potentially resolve the 

entirety of the class action, including the derivative claims. 

V. MOTION TO EXCLUDE PLAINTIFFS’ EXPERT DR. BRIAN KRIEGLER

Amazon moves to exclude the testimony and opinions of Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Brian 

Kriegler, submitted in support of Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. (Doc. 125.) For the 

majority of proposed classes, the Court will recommend denial of class certification. In 

reaching that recommendation, the Court did not substantively rely on Dr. Kriegler’s testimony 

to assess whether Plaintiffs’ claims were susceptible to classwide resolution or whether 

individual questions predominated. Therefore, it is unnecessary to address substantial portions 

of Amazon’s motion seeking to exclude Dr. Kriegler’s report, particularly with respect to 

Classes 1 through 5 and Class 7. 

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As to the remaining classes, Classes 6 (Meal Period Waiver) and 8 (Wage Statement) 

(and the derivative Classes 9 through 11), it also was unnecessary for the Court to rely on Dr. 

Kriegler’s report for a determination as to whether these classes are susceptible to class wide 

resolution. Class 6 is premised on the facial validity of specific meal break waiver forms, a 

legal question that does not require expert testimony. Class 8 is likewise premised on a legal 

question susceptible to resolution without expert testimony; that is, whether certain wage 

statements violated Labor Code § 226(a). Accordingly, the Court will recommend that 

Amazon’s motion to exclude Plaintiffs’ expert be DENIED as moot. 

IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED as follows:

1. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN 

PART as follows:

a. Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification be DENIED as to the following 

classes: Class 1 Unpaid Wages Class (Hours Worked Claim Based on Control of Employees 

through Mandatory Exit Security Procedures); Class 2 Unpaid Wages Class (Controlled Meal 

Periods); Class 3 Meal Period Violations for Controlled Meal Periods; Class 4 Rest Periods 

Violations for Controlled Rest Periods; Class 5 Improper Rounding Class; and Class 7 (Third 

Rest Period Class);

b. Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification be GRANTED as to the 

following classes:

Class 6 (Invalid Second Meal Period Waiver Class) defined as:

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time 

during the period from July 12, 2014 and ending on the date of certification 

or as otherwise determined by the Court who signed any meal period waiver 

in the forms attached as Exhibit 12 to the Declaration of Peter R. DionKindem in Support of Motion for Class Certification and worked more than 

10 hours in a day, did not receive a second 30 minute meal period, and did 

not receive one hour of pay at the class member’s regular rate of 

compensation for such day.

Class 8. Direct Violation of Section 226(a)(2) Wage Statement Class defined as:

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All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. in California at any time during the period from July 12, 

2016 and December 31, 2018 who did not receive an itemized statement in 

writing accurately showing the total hours worked by the employee where 

the wage statements reflect a line item for regular hours worked and at least 

one other line item for other types of hours worked other than regular 

overtime or double time, such as shift differential hours worked.

Class 9. Derivative Wage Statement Class defined as:

All members of Class 6 who, during the period from July 12, 2016 and 

ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the Court, 

were not provided with accurate itemized wage statements with all the 

information required by Labor Code Section 226(a)(1), (2), (5) and (9).

Class 10. Section 203 Subclass defined as:

All members of Class 6 who, during the period from July 12, 2014 and 

ending on the date of certification or as otherwise determined by the Court, 

were either voluntarily or involuntarily separated from their employment 

and did not timely receive all wages owing pursuant to Labor Code Section 

201 or 202.

Class 11. UCL Class defined as:

All non-exempt employees employed by Amazon.com Services, Inc. or 

Amazon.com, Inc. at any of Defendants’ facilities in California at any time 

during the period from July 12, 2013 and ending on the date of certification 

or as otherwise determined by the Court who are owed restitution as a result 

of Defendants’ business acts and practices that are found to be unlawful, 

deceptive, and/or unfair.

2. Defendants’ Motion to Exclude Plaintiffs’ Expert Dr. Brian Kriegler be DENIED 

as moot.

These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 

assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen 

(14) days after being served with these findings and recommendations, the parties may file 

written objections with the Court. Such a document should be captioned “Objections to 

Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” The parties are advised that failure to file 

objections within the specified time may result in the waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. 

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Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 838-39 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 

(9th Cir. 1991)). 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: June 7, 2021 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe 

 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case 1:18-cv-00120-KES-BAM Document 166 Filed 06/08/21 Page 48 of 48