Ma Labs Wage and Hour Class Action

Company: Ma Laboratories Inc.

Sanford Heisler Sharp represents a class of approximately 600 current and former hourly workers at Ma Laboratories, Inc. (Ma Labs), a San Jose-based computer parts distribution company. The employees allege that Ma Labs engaged in pervasive time-shaving, whereby it wrote off and refused to pay employees’ pre-shift and post-shift overtime. The company also allegedly failed to provide its employees off-duty, uninterrupted rest and meal periods, as required by California law. The workers are mostly Chinese and Latino immigrants.

On October 9, 2014, Judge Peter H. Kirwan of the Santa Clara Superior Court granted class certification. On the time-shaving claim, Judge Kirwan concluded that Plaintiffs’ theory that hourly employees were under the control of Ma Labs once they swiped into the facility is appropriate for class-wide resolution. His order noted: “[E]ven those who are waiting for instructions in the morning are clocked in and subject to Ma Labs’ control/suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so. Under Plaintiffs’ theory, this still constitutes ‘hours worked’ for purposes of compensation, and the necessary findings can be made from the timekeeping alone.” Judge Kirwan also certified Plaintiffs claims for meal and rest break violations, along with related claims.

If you are a class member, please stay tuned for case notices and further developments.

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E-mail:amelzer@sanfordheisler.com