Know the Law. Know your Rights.
Are you Earning at Least the Minimum Wage Required by California Law?
Employees in California must be paid the minimum wage and are protected by law. While there are some exceptions, it is illegal for employers to pay employees less than the required minimum wage. The California state minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, so workers should be paid the higher required pay under state law. Moreover, some cities and counties have even higher minimum wages, so you should always be aware of the applicable minimum wage, as well as any increases to the minimum wage that typically occur every January 1.
California Labor Code §512(1)(a)
The minimum wage for employees fixed by the commission or by any applicable state or local law, is the minimum wage to be paid to employees, and the payment of a lower wage than the minimum so fixed is unlawful. This section does not change the applicability of local minimum wage laws to any entity.
If your employer is not paying you the minimum wage required by law, you can file a lawsuit to recover unpaid wages, interest on the wages, as well as attorneys’ fees and court costs. Also, if there are many employees that are not being paid the required wage, you could be part of a class action claim against the employer.
California Labor Code § 1194
Any employee receiving less than the legal minimum wage or the legal overtime compensation applicable to such employee is entitled to recover in a civil action the unpaid balance of the full amount of such minimum wage or overtime compensation, together with costs of suit, notwithstanding any agreement to work for a lesser wage.
Also, be aware that in addition to the hours you are actually performing your job, your employer must also pay you for any additional time that your employer has control over you. For example, you are entitled to minimum wage for the time needed to change into a uniform; time on-call waiting to be called in to work; as well as time needed to pass through security between shifts. This time is covered by California labor laws, and your employer must pay you at least the minimum wage or they are breaking the law, and you may be entitled to compensation.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is experienced in all aspects of employment law including minimum and unpaid wages and have aggressively represented employees in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra.
If you or someone you know suffered employment violations as an employee such as being paid less than minimum wage in California, you may have certain employee rights under state and federal law and may be entitled to unpaid wages, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and/or be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our experienced lawyers for a free consultation.
Final Approval Granted For Armed Security Guard Class Action Lawsuit To Reimburse for Business Expenses
Srourian Law Firm proudly announces that the San Bernardino Superior Court granted final approval of a $375,000.00 settlement achieved on behalf of former and current armed-security guards of a large private security company for a failure to reimburse guards for expenses incurred in purchasing and maintaining weapons, belts, vests, and other related expenses necessary to carry out duties as an armed guard.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is aggressively pursuing claims against security guard companies for failing to provide their employees with necessary business equipment such as weapons, belts, and bulletproof vests. Similarly, time spent putting on or taking off uniform is compensable time, though many security companies fail to actually compensate guards for that time. If you or someone you know suffered violations of the California Labor Code in relation to their employment with a security guard company in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra, you may be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
Srourian Law Firm Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Altura Credit Union For Violation Of California Labor Code And Related Claims
Srourian Law Firm has filed a putative class action on behalf of former and current non-exempt workers of Altura Credit Union in Riverside Superior Court. The lawsuit includes all non-exempt workers of Altura, including but not limited to customer service representatives, loan officers, office staff, and similar non-managerial duties. The lawsuit alleges that Medmen violated various provisions of the California Labor Code, including failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, failure to authorize meal breaks and rest breaks in accordance with California law, failure to timely pay final paychecks, failure to provide proper paystubs, and violation of California Private Attorney General Act, among several other violations.
SROURIAN LAW FIRM’S CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
The class action lawsuit, titled Blum v. Altura Credit Union is currently pending in Riverside Superior Court Case No. RIC1902157. If you worked for any Altura location in California at any time from March 29, 2015, until the present and would like more information about this case, please call us at (310) 601-3131 or send an email to contact@slfla.com. Be sure to give your name, telephone number, and the best time to reach you, and an attorney will get back to you soon.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is aggressively pursuing claims against Altura, and other California banks and credit unions in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra. If you or someone you know suffered violations of the California Labor Code in relation to their employment with a bank or credit union, you may be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
Srourian Law Firm Negotiates $1 Million Settlement On Behalf Of Amazon Drivers
Srourian Law Firm is happy to report it successfully negotiated a $1 million settlement on behalf of a statewide group of Amazon delivery drivers claiming, among other violations, failure to compensate time spend waiting off-site to get picked up with a shuttle, in addition to failure to pay overtime for hours worked in excess of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. The lawsuit was not against Amazon itself, but rather, a third party company contracted to perform deliveries on behalf of Amazon.
SROURIAN LAW FIRM’S CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
Class Members who stand to recover from this action will be notified of settlement upon approval of the settlement with the Court.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is aggressively pursuing claims o behalf of California delivery drivers in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra. If you or someone you know suffered violations of the California Labor Code in relation to their employment with any delivery company, you may be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
Srourian Law Firm Leads The Way In Getting Preliminary Approval On Near $1 Million Settlement On Behalf Of California Airport Workers
Srourian Law Firm is happy to report it successfully obtained preliminary approval on a nearly $1 million settlement on behalf of a statewide group of workers at LAX, John Wayne, and Long Beach airports claiming, among other violations, unpaid time spent parking off-site and taking a shuttle to the worksite, as well as deficient meal and rest periods.
SROURIAN LAW FIRM’S CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
Class Members who stand to recover from this action have begun to be notified of settlement and will be paid upon final approval of the settlement with the Court.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is aggressively pursuing claims o behalf of California airport workers in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra. If you or someone you know suffered violations of the California Labor Code in relation to their employment with any airport, you may be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
Srourian Law Firm Wins Appeals, Sends Shore Hotel Class Action Lawsuit From Arbitration Back To Court
In a decisive victory for workers throughout the State of California, Srourian Law Firm obtained a favorable appellate decision from the California Court of Appeals, Fifth Division, reversing an earlier Los Angeles Superior Court decision to direct a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of former and current workers of The Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, California, to individual arbitration. The initial order meant the class representatives could not proceed on a class action basis and seek recovery on behalf of all former and current Shore Hotel workers. The Court of Appeal reversed, finding the purported arbitration agreements to be invalid and unenforceable under the law. The class action will thus proceed.
You can read the whole decision by clicking here.
SROURIAN LAW FIRM’S CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
The class action lawsuit, titled Prado v. Shore Hotel (Sand & Sea), is currently pending in Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC600236. The class includes all non-exempt workers of Shore Hotel, including but not limited to housekeeping, bellmen, food and beverage, front desk, concierge, parking, and other similar non-managerial duties. The lawsuit alleges that Shore Hotel violated various provisions of the California Labor Code, including failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, failure to authorize meal breaks and rest breaks in accordance with California law, failure to timely pay final paychecks, failure to provide proper paystubs, and violation of California Private Attorney General Act, among several other violations.
If you worked for Shore Hotel in California at any time from November 4, 2011, until the present and would like more information about this case, please call us at (310) 601-3131 or send an email to contact@slfla.com. Be sure to give your name, telephone number, and the best time to reach you, and an attorney will get back to you soon.
FREE CONSULTATION
Srourian Law Firm, with locations in Los Angeles, Westwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange County is aggressively pursuing claims against Shore Hotel, and other California hotels in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Tustin, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Garden Grove, Laguna Niguel, Brea, Fountain Valley, Aliso Viejo, Yorba Linda, Westminster, Laguna Hills, Cypress, and La Habra. If you or someone you know suffered violations of the California Labor Code in relation to their employment with a hotel, you may be entitled to compensation as a part of the class action lawsuit. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
Securitas Case Expands PAGA
The Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Labor Code section 2698 et seq.)
(“PAGA”), deputizes “aggrieved employees,” giving them the authority to enforce California
Labor Code violations in the workplace on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved employees.
In PAGA actions, the State of California is the real party in interest while the employee acts as a
private attorney general. For this reason, if an aggrieved employee succeeds in a PAGA action,
25% of any civil penalties recovered goes to the aggrieved employees, while the State of
California receives the remaining 75%.
A PAGA action is different than a traditional class action where a plaintiff must have standing to
sue – the class representative plaintiff must have suffered the injury that the class they seek to
represent also suffered. As recently explained in Huff v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.,
2018 S.O.S. 2555 (May 23, 2018, review denied Aug. 8, 2018), a PAGA plaintiff may sue on behalf
of all other aggrieved employees who have suffered violations of the Labor Code even if the
PAGA plaintiff did not suffer those violations.
In the Securitas case, the trial court initially found that PAGA plaintiff Huff was not a temporary services
employee and therefore had no standing to sue for the violations relating to that category of
worker. However, the Court of Appeals reasoned that the purpose of PAGA is not to recover
damages or restitution, but to deputize private citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the
Labor Code. Therefore, the Court of Appeals allowed PAGA plaintiff Huff to bring claims even
if he did not personally experience the Labor Code violations. As long as a PAGA plaintiff
personally suffered at least one of the alleged violations, the PAGA plaintiff can bring any other
claim suffered by the aggrieved employees of the same employer.
Securitas clearly expanded the scope of PAGA. In order to fully take advantage of this
opportunity, a PAGA plaintiff must make sure to meet the pleading requirements by establishing
sufficient facts and theories for their claims. If you or someone you know are being denied your
meal and rest breaks, or are suffering any other wage related issues, contact Srourian Law Firm
to speak with an attorney about your rights.