9th Circuit Puts Mendoza v. Nordstrom Saga To Rest

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court's dismissal of "day of rest" claims brought by two former hourly employees against retail giant Nordstrom. The court determined that the employees were not aggrieved, a requirement for claims brought under California's notorious Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, and further upheld the district court's determination that they should not be permitted to substitute in an alleged aggrieved plaintiff to maintain their PAGA claims. The August 3 decision is good news for California employers and should provide a useful template for defending such cases in the future.

California's "Day Of Rest" Law

Christopher Mendoza and Meagan Gordon were hourly employees for Nordstrom, working in varying capacities. Mendoza filed a putative class action in state court under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) on his own behalf and those similarly situated hourly, non-exempt employees in California. Nordstrom removed the case to federal district court.

The crux of the complaint was Nordstrom's alleged violation of the "day of rest" provisions set forth in Labor Code Sections 551 and 552. Gordon brought her complaint in intervention, alleging the same causes of action.

Section 551 provides for "one day's rest [from work] in seven," while Section 552 prohibits an employer from "causing" an employee to work more than six days in seven. An exception to the day of rest requirement applies if the "total hours of employment do not exceed 30 hours in any week or six hours in any one day thereof." Employees who work on the seventh day of a workweek are entitled to one and a half times the regular rate of pay for the first eight hours and double time for all hours worked thereafter. In this case, Mendoza worked more than six consecutive days in three instances as a result of a supervisor's or coworker's request that he cover a shift, and Gordon worked more than six consecutive days on one occasion.

Case Gets Shuttled From Court To Court To Court...

The district court determined that Nordstrom did not cause the plaintiffs to work more than seven consecutive days, and therefore there was no violation of Section 551. It further held that, in each seven-day span referenced in the allegations, the plaintiffs had worked fewer than six hours on at least one day. Thus, the district court concluded that another provision of the law, Section 556, exempted Nordstrom from the alleged violations.

On appeal, the...