Wage and Hour

Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian is one of the leading plaintiffs' firms in the country litigating class and collective actions under the federal and state wage and hour laws. We have won hundreds of millions of dollars in back pay for tens of thousands of employees throughout the country and the state.

State and federal laws provide protection for employee wages and benefits in a number of different ways. Many employers misclassify their employees as "exempt" and unlawfully deprive them of overtime pay. Without a legal consultation, many salaried employees are unaware that they are entitled to overtime (time and a half after forty hours of work per week or, in California, after eight hours of work per day). Employers may also fail to pay for all hours worked (including pre and post shift work, for instance), fail to provide required meal and rest breaks, or institute illegal tip pools.

Under California law, vacation pay is considered wages. Employers with "use it or lose it" vacation pay policies or vacation pay policies that require employees to work until the end of the calendar year before they have the right to take paid vacation time may be in violation of California law.

The firm also has litigated and resolved dozens of significant cases for workers who were misclassified as "exempt" and not paid overtime and other compensation against companies such as IBM ($65 million), Siebel ($27.5 million) and Countrywide ($30 million).

The firm also has represented non-profit organizations and employees as amici curiae in a number of important wage and hour cases, and employee interests before California and federal agencies proposing regulations which would affect employee rights.

Current Cases

AT&T

• Casas v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company dba AT&T California (wage & hour class action)
• Ellis, et al. v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company dba AT&T California (wage & hour)

Auto Club of Southern California

• McClendon v. Automobile Club of Southern California (wage & hour class action)

Autozone

• Myart v. Autozone (wage & hour class action)

Bank of America

• Contreras v. Bank of America (wage & hour class action)

Chili's

• Roussell v. Brinker Int'l, d.b.a. Chili's (tip pooling collective action)

Farmers Services, LLC

• Bell v. Farmers Services, LLC (wage & hour) 

Genentech

• Galu v. Genentech, Inc. (wage & hour)

G.S. May

• Brown v. G.S. May International (wage & hour)

Hott Wings

• Partridge, et al. v. Hott Wings, Inc. et al. (wage & hour, tip-pooling)

IBM Corporation

• Danieli v. IBM Corporation (wage & hour)

Lucky Chances

• Lopez v. Lucky Chances, Inc., et al. (wage & hour)

Olan Mills

• Porter v. Olan Mills, Inc. (wage & hour)

Oracle

• Garcia v. Oracle (wage & hour)

Pacific Bell

• Casas v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company dba AT&T California (wage & hour class action)
• Ellis, et al. v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company dba AT&T California (wage & hour)

RGIS

• Wren v. RGIS (wage & hour)

Roma Food

• Kielhurn v. Vistar Corp. and Performance Food Group Co. (wage & hour)

Southern Wines & Spirits of America

• Gagner v. Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (wage and hour)

Sysco

• Watts, et al. v. Sysco Corp., et al. (wage & hour)

U.S. Foodservice

• Burdick v. U.S. Foodservice, Inc. (wage & hour)

Young's Market

• Moy v. Young's Market (wage & hour)

Past Cases

Aegis Mortgage Corp.

• Riley v. Aegis Mortgage Corp. (wage & hour)

AT&T

• Mahoney v. AT&T (wage & hour class action)

Automotive Club of Southern California

• Bullock v. Automotive Club of Southern California (wage & hour)
• Miskell v. Auto Club of Southern California (wage & hour)

Bank of America

• Vasquez v. Bank of America, N.A. (wage & hour)

California State Automobile Association

• Thomas v. California State Automobile Association (wage & hour)

Carl's Jr.

• Sequeira v. CKE Restaurants, Inc., d.b.a. Carls Junior (wage & hour)

Countrywide

• Butler v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (unpaid overtime, missed meal periods and unlawful pay deductions)

Ditech and GMAC Mortgage

• Ellmore v. Ditech Funding Corporation and GMAC Mortgage (wage & hour)

Downey Savings & Loan

• Sims v. Downey Savings and Loans Association (wage & hour)

E-Loan

• Mousai v. E-Loan, Inc. (wage & hour)

Eastwood Insurance

• Parks v. Eastwood Ins. Svc., Inc. (fee litigation)

Fremont Savings & Loan

• Scheid v. Fremont (wage & hour)

Frito-Lay, Inc.

• Weddle v. Frito-Lay, Inc. (wage & hour)

GEICO

• Tokar v. GEICO (wage & hour)

IBM Corporation

• Rosenburg v. IBM Corp. (wage & hour)

Labor Ready

• Ramirez v. Labor Ready, Inc. (formerly Yarbrough v. Labor Ready) (wage & hour)

The Money Store

• Davis v. The Money Store (wage & hour)

PSS World Medical

• Angione v. PSS World Medical, Inc. (wage & hour)

Rent-A-Center

• Otero v. Rent-A-Center (wage & hour)

Sears

• DeSoto v. Sears Roebuck & Co. (wage & hour)

Siebel Systems

• Lin v. Siebel Systems, Inc. (wage & hour)

Southern California Edison Co.

• Rice v. Southern California Edison Co. (race discrimination in employment)

Sprint

• Byrd v. Sprint (wage & hour)
• Lipnick v. Sprint (wage & hour)

Starbuck's

• Chau v. Starbucks Corporation (California tip-pooling)

Verizon

• Gabriel v. Verizon Communications (wage & hour)
• Levy v. Verizon Information Services, Inc. (wage & hour)