2/8 DCA Reinstates Fees Award Under Wage/Hour Statutes After California Supreme Court Remand.
On August 26, 2022, we posted on Betancourt v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC, Case No. B293625 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Aug. 25, 2022), which was unpublished at the time. We can now report it was published on September 12, 2022. Here is our discussion of it in the prior post:
The 2/8 DCA had to revisit its denial of attorney’s fees to a plaintiff employee alleging missed rest and meal break violations and waiting penalties even though the lower court had awarded fees of $280,000 to plaintiff. The reason for the revisit was the California Supreme Court’s decision in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., 13 Cal.5th 93, 102 (2022), which held that extra pay for missed breaks constitutes “wages” that must be reported on employment wage statements and give rise to Labor Code fee exposure. Given this change in the judicial landscape, the 2/8 DCA panel reinstated the $280,000 fee award—even though plaintiff’s compensatory settlement acceptance was only $15,375. This shows how statutory fee-shifting provisions need to be considered wisely when litigating a case where wage/hour claims can trigger fee exposure.
BLOG OBSERVATION—This case also is must reading for employment practitioners, given that Naranjo overruled Ling and similar cases on waiting penalties.
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