Former Employees Sue Bravo Stars Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd for Wage & Hour Violations

Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd’s restaurant empire is the foundation for a drama-filled Bravo series. Stars on the show, Vanderpump Rules, tend to be more than happy to participate in spite of the drama the show is known for creating. But recently, several former employees filed a lawsuit alleging that they were not provided proper wages.  

Bravo Stars Sued for Various Employment Law Violations:

Former employees claim that Bravo stars Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd failed to pay wages or overtime wages for four years (and maybe more). In December 2019, Adam Pierce Antoine, and several other former employees, filed a class-action lawsuit. The defendants, Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd own several California restaurants, including SUR, Tom Tom, Pump, and Villa Blanca. Allegedly, staffers at the Bravo stars’ restaurants were not compensated fairly when they worked overtime - as a standard practice. The plaintiffs also allege that the owner, Lisa Vanderpump, regularly dedicated time and energy to altering employee time records to manipulate the number of hours to minimize the number of hours rather than providing for all the hours worked. Not only does this represent wage and hour violations and overtime pay violations, but it also violates federal requirements to provide employees with an accurate wage statement.

Bravo Stars Allegedly Fail to Pay Employees for Hours Worked:

Allegedly, Lisa Vanderpump did not provide a minimum wage to her employees for their hours due to numerous standard “practices” that businesses can be tempted to institute as a means of minimizing labor costs.

• Off the Clock Work: Employees were not paid for hours worked “off the clock.”

• Unpaid Training: Employees were not paid for mandatory training.

• Unpaid, but On Call: Employees were not paid for time spent on call.

• No Meal or Rest Breaks: Employees were not provided with meal and rest breaks required by California labor law, and were not otherwise compensated. (According to labor law, Employees who are not given meal breaks or rest breaks should be compensated and allegedly, this never happened for employees at the many restaurants owned by the well-known Bravo stars).

In addition to wage and hour and overtime violations, Vanderpumpand Todd allegedly did not provide terminated employees with accurate wage statements reflecting the time they worked. Plaintiffs filed suit citing they suffered damages and Antione seeks more than $25,000. 

In response to the lawsuit, the restaurant describes the plaintiff as disgruntled workers who were written up and given plenty of warnings by their supervising staff before they were let go. The owners also insist that they take action to prevent abuse toward their staff or their patrons.

If you need to talk to someone about violations in the workplace or if you need to file an overtime lawsuit, get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.

Truck Drivers Challenge California’s New Gig-Economy Law, Assembly Bill 5

In November 2019, the California Trucking Association filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the new California state law attempting to force gig-economy companies to treat their drivers and workers as employees. In doing so, the workers would be entitled to benefits and protections under labor law like overtime pay and sick leave.

California’s new law was based on the 2018 California Supreme Court ruling setting higher standards for when a company can classify a worker as an independent contractor. Assembly Bill 5 is scheduled to go into effect in 2020. (Governor Gavin Newsom signed it in September 2019).

The California Trucking Association argues that the law will deny a lot of truckers the opportunity to work as independent drivers in the state of California. By driving as independent contractors, truckers are able to profit from their own vehicles and set their own schedules. The new bill threatens cover 70,000 truckers’ livelihoods and according to the California Trucking Association, also violates federal law.

Truckers working as independent contractors are frequently experienced drivers who have already worked as employees and actively chose to strike out on their own instead. The California Trucking Association feels they should not be deprived of this lifestyle and career choice. A spokesman for the association explained their stance by indicating that the law can protect workers from misclassification without taking away the rights of independent truckers to actively seek a living on the road in California outside of the traditional employment model.

Supporters of Assembly Bill 5 insist that the law only strengthens the rights of workers and makes sure that employers do not deny their workers benefits they have earned (like minimum wage, paid family leave, and overtime). Some professional classifications receive broad exemptions from the new rules under the law (i.e. lawyers, real estate agents, etc.) But truckers were not offered similar treatment, although the lawmakers did offer delayed implementation to some offering construction related services.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. Southern District Court. The complaint challenges both Assembly Bill 5 and the underlying California Supreme Court ruling commonly referred to as Dynamex.

If you need to discuss Assembly Bill 5 or if you are misclassified as an independent contractor, please don’t hesitate. Get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.

Are Uber Drivers Owed Millions of Dollars Due to Wage Theft?

Did you know that rideshare drivers in New York City have filed a lawsuit against Uber? The lawsuit claims that Uber wrongfully deducted taxes from divers’ paychecks and did not provide them with the full income they earned from their rides through the popular ridesharing app. The suit was filed in a U.S. district court in Manhattan.  

According to the lawsuit, 96,000 drivers are owed money because of two employment law violations: 1) Uber allegedly deducted money from drivers’ paychecks for both the state’s sales taxes and 2) a surcharge intended to apply to rides across state lines. Uber drivers also claim that the contract they have in place with the popular ridesharing company requires that Uber pay the driver the passenger’s full fare minus Uber’s service fee. According to the drivers, Uber also used a manipulative system of charging passengers that had the passenger paying a higher fare than what was reported to the driver, and Uber pocketed the difference between the indicated fare and the actual (higher) fare. This practice denied the drivers their contractual share of the full fare being charged to customers.

According to the allegations, it is estimated that the drivers are owed around $5 million.  

There are three Uber drivers named in the suit:

• Levon Aleksanian

• Sonam Lama

• Harjit Khatra

The plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit asked a federal judge to approve the class action for close to 100,000 drivers affected by the alleged violations. This lawsuit is part of a wave of employment lawsuits aimed at rideshare companies and other gig economy companies that are attempting to bolster wages of workers. Uber and Lyft were initially applauded for disrupting a stale industry, but in recent news they’re receiving more attention for the potential their business models present for worker exploitation.

Other companies facing similar allegations include: Instacart, DoorDash, etc. All of which have business models that rely on their workers using their app. These app-based gig economy businesses are drawing significant criticism in recent years for pocketing funds that should go to their drivers (i.e. deducting customer tips from payments submitted, etc.)  

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a state bill into law after months of organizing by rideshare drivers and supporters. The new legislation attempts to force companies like Uber and Lyft to classify their workers as employees and provide them with access to a wider range of rights and protections. According to trusted media sources, various gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Maplebear spent a combined $110 million fighting the law.

If you need to file a wage theft lawsuit or if you need to discuss other employment law violations, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.

Will College Athletes Finally Succeed in Legally Obtaining the Right to Earn a Wage?

The NCAA is facing a new lawsuit; another attempt to get wages for hard working college athletes. The suit was filed by former Villanova football player, Trey Johnson, and alleges that college athletes should be categorized as employees and receive pay similar to students in approved work-study programs on college campuses.

Johnson filed the wage and hour class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal court. In addition to the NCAA, Johnson listed 22 Division I universities as defendants. Currently playing in the Canadian Football League, Johnson asks for unpaid wages for the time he spent playing football for Villanova.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff believes that all athletes should receive pay regardless of which sport they play. Plaintiff’s counsel claims that the NCAA could accomplish this task by next fall if they buckled down and got to it simply by including the athletes in the same pool as the work-study students.

Trey Johnson’s lawsuit is the latest in a string of suits and challenges to the NCAA’s long-held practice preventing student athletes from making any money. The NCAA’s board of governors did recently announce that there are plans to modify the rule restricting athletes from accepting endorsement deals. This proposed change followed the passing of a California law making it illegal for California colleges to prohibit endorsement deals (effective 2023). The moves being made by NCAA administrators are an attempt to relieve pressure from both the federal and state level while still defending the NCAA against civil lawsuits that claim current practices violate antitrust laws.

Johnson claims every athlete for the college is an employee of the school and that as employees they deserve an hourly wage for their “work.” He also argues that the hourly wage offered should be equal or comparable to peers/other students involved in work-study programs who are performing other work on campus like stocking books in library shelves, or selling concessions at events, etc. This would typically mean a rate of $10-15/hour.

If you need to talk to someone about wage and hour law or if you need to file a wage and hour lawsuit, get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.

Ex-Dancer Sues Strip Club for Misclassification

The misclassification controversy is not exclusive to the gig economy. As the gig economy’s problems seem to escalate, problems are growing in other industries as well. In Daytona Beach, a former dancer at Grandview Live is suing the strip club claiming they owe her back wages because they misclassified her as an independent contractor when she was allegedly an employee.

Brittany Hall, former dancer at Grandview Live in Daytona Beach, claims that due to the club’s misclassification, she allegedly earned less than minimum wage and was not paid overtime. Hall, like the other exotic dancers at the club, was paid strictly in tips from customers. She worked at the strip club for over two years without overtime and receiving less than minimum wage, which attorneys for the plaintiff claim is fairly standard in the industry.

Hall claims Grandview Live owes her money because they violated wage and hour law by paying her less than minimum wage and failed to pay her overtime hours she was due. Hall also alleges that the club took tips from her in addition to their other employment law violations.

California legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 5 which will require companies to treat their workers as employees if they meet certain standards. The bill is set to go into effect January 1, 2020 and will have a massive impact on gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft and DoorDash. But it will also benefit workers like Brittany Hall, working in industries that have been around since before smartphones and apps were introduced.

Sometimes employers misclassify workers unintentionally. In some cases, it is an honest mistake. Other employers actively and purposefully misclassify their employees in order to maximize profits and minimize costs. Employers have major incentives to shift workers off their payrolls due to taxes, unemployment insurance, workers compensation premiums, etc.

If you are misclassified or if you are not being paid overtime wages for all your hours worked, please do not delay. Get in touch with one of the experienced employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP so we can help.

Another Multimillion Dollar Settlement to End an XPO Last Mile Wage Suit

Drivers had a big win in the California courtroom recently when XPO Logistics settled another wage lawsuit for close to $5.5 million. The settlement was split between just under 4,000 drivers. This is the third lawsuit of this type settled by the company in the last 4 months. Federal court documents state that the Defendant, XPO Last Mile, agreed to pay the class members $5.5 million to end the lawsuit originally filed at the end of 2016.  

The lawsuit was filed by Hector Ibanez in 2016. He filed the lawsuit on behalf of thousands of XPO Last Mile drivers in California. Ibanez alleged that the company misclassified him and others as independent contractors. The California drivers claim they did not receive payment for all hours worked. The drivers allege that they generally worked more than 40 hours per week and often put in more than 12 hours in a day. While these hours would qualify as overtime hours, they were not paid overtime wages because the company, XPO Last Mile, classified them as independent contractors. The drivers also allege that wages were not paid in a timely manner as required by law – particularly upon termination of employment. Noncompliant wage statements complicated matters.  

According to the California wage lawsuit, XPO Last Mile did not comply with meal and rest break requirements as determined by California Labor Code. They also allegedly failed to comply with wage and hour law, waiting time penalties, reimbursement of expenses necessary during the course of performing job duties, and providing legally required wage statements. If all the drivers eligible as class members participate in the settlement agreement, each will receive approximately $935.18.

This is just one of a number of California wage and hour suits pending during litigation. Two other lawsuits were settled around the same time as the Ibanez case.

If you need more information about filing a class action lawsuit in California or if you have questions about what an experienced employment law attorney can do for you, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.

Quick Dispense, Inc. Faces Allegations of PAGA Violations

A Los Angeles employment lawsuit alleges that Quick Dispense, Inc. violated California labor law by failing to pay non-exempt California employees overtime wages as well as failing to offer legally required rest and meal breaks. Employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP filed the class action lawsuit in September 2019. The class action lawsuit alleges PAGA violations and failure to accurately calculate overtime wages. The lawsuit is pending in LA County Superior Court (Case No. 19STCV29405).

According to the California class action, Quick Dispense, Inc. violated numerous labor laws by:

1.    Failing to provide non-exempt employees with fair payment for all hours worked

2.    Failing to provide non-exempt employees with accurate overtime wages

3.    Failing to provide legally required meal and rest breaks

4.    Failing to provide employees itemized wage statements with accurate listings of hours and wages

5.    Failing to provide payment of wages in a timely manner

6.    Failing to pay minimum wage

7.    Failing to reimburse employees for necessary business expenses

PAGA (the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act) authorizes aggrieved employees to file lawsuits to seek recovery of civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees and the state in response to Labor Code violations. PAGA enables California to enforce state labor laws by allowing the employee experiencing the violation to file suit to recover civil penalties as an act of protecting the public from companies and entities in violation of employment law.

If you need more information about filing a class action lawsuit in California or if you have questions about what an experienced employment law attorney can do for you, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.