Absent class members in state-court class actions cannot pursue individual claims in federal court when the class has entered into a settlement releasing all such claims and a state court has entered final judgment approving the settlement, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held. Moreno v. UtiliQuest, LLC, No. 21-55313 (Mar. 18, 2022).
In this case, a California superior court made specific findings that the appellant had been given proper notice of the state-court class action and the resulting settlement was “fair, adequate, and reasonable.” That was enough to satisfy the federal appeals court, which gave full faith and credit to the state court judgment.
The Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction over Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
After he was terminated from his field technician job at UtiliQuest, LLC, Cesar Moreno filed suit in federal court asserting wage claims for travel time and meal period pay. According to his complaint, he was not properly paid for time spent between his home and the first and last job sites of the day. He also claimed that, because of the nature of his job duties, he was unable to take uninterrupted 30-minute meal periods (and he was not compensated for these missed meal periods).
The district court dismissed his claims, finding that Moreno failed to assert a claim upon which relief could be granted.
Moreno appealed the dismissal of these and other claims...
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