Precertification, Stores' Lawyers Crush Class; Judge Clobbers Overtime Suits By Managers; Never Cited Rule
March 12, 2007
Los Angeles Daily Journal
By Don J. DeBenedictis
Abstract:
SANTA ANA - In a rare pre-emptive strike, attorneys for a national chain of boutiques have clobbered overtime suits by store managers before the plaintiffs' lawyers could ask for certification as a class action.
Relying on a never-cited California Rule of Court ans a plethora of declarations from seemingly satisfied store managers, attorneys representing the BCBG Max Azria stores convinced an Orange County Superior Court judge that the litigation could not go forward on behalf of 1,000 workers...
...But John N. Quisenberry, a Los Angeles employment plaintiffs' attorney who is not part of the case, dismissed Ferrell's description of the way the company operates. According to Quisenberry, defense attorneys commonly attempt to distinguish their clients' operations from those of other companies.
"No Business in America operates that way, nor would they," he added.
If some managers carry out a majority of nonmanagerial duties and others do not, then those that do should get overtime pay, Quisenberry said. Instead, he added employers are "not paying a single one of them overtime..."
For a copy of the complete article, please contact :
Jennifer Reynolds
Marketing Director
310-785-7966
jreynolds@quislaw.com
