Opinion ID: 844210
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Off-the-clock Claims Class Certification

Text: The third disputed subclass covers Class Members who worked `off-the-clock' or without pay from and after August 16, 2000. As with the rest period subclass, we consider only whether substantial evidence supports the trial court's conclusion that common questions predominate. None does. Hohnbaum's off-the-clock claims are an offshoot of his meal period claims. He contends Brinker required employees to perform work while clocked out during their meal periods; they were neither relieved of all duty nor afforded an uninterrupted 30 minutes, and were not compensated. Hohnbaum further contends Brinker altered meal break records to conceal time worked during these periods. Unlike for the rest period claim and subclass, for this claim neither a common policy nor a common method of proof is apparent. The rest period claim involved a uniform Brinker policy allegedly in conflict with the legal requirements of the Labor Code and the governing wage order. The only formal Brinker off-the-clock policy submitted disavows such work, consistent with state law. [29] Nor has Hohnbaum presented substantial evidence of a systematic company policy to pressure or require employees to work off-the-clock, a distinction that differentiates this case from those he relies upon in which off-the-clock classes have been certified. (See, e.g., Salvas v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2008) 452 Mass. 337 [893 N.E.2d 1187, 1210-1211]; Hale v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Mo.Ct.App. 2007) 231 S.W.3d 215, 220, 225-228; Iliadis v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2007) 191 N.J. 88 [922 A.2d 710, 715-716, 723-724].) Moreover, that employees are clocked out creates a presumption they are doing no work, a presumption Hohnbaum and the putative class members have the burden to rebut. As all parties agree, liability is contingent on proof Brinker knew or should have known off-the-clock work was occurring. ( Morillion v. Royal Packing Co., supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 585; see, e.g., White v. Starbucks Corp. (N.D.Cal. 2007) 497 F.Supp.2d 1080, 1083-1085 [granting the defense summary judgment on an off-the-clock claim in the absence of proof the employer knew or should have known of the employee's work].) Nothing before the trial court demonstrated how this could be shown through common proof, in the absence of evidence of a uniform policy or practice. Instead, the trial court was presented with anecdotal evidence of a handful of individual instances in which employees worked off-the-clock, with or without knowledge or awareness by Brinker supervisors. On a record such as this, where no substantial evidence points to a uniform, companywide policy, proof of off-the-clock liability would have had to continue in an employee-by-employee fashion, demonstrating who worked off-the-clock, how long they worked, and whether Brinker knew or should have known of their work. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal properly vacated certification of this subclass.