Security-tech company Smiths Detection Inc. convinced a federal judge in California to retain jurisdiction over an employee’s proposed class action alleging state law wage and breaks violations.
The company established that the case is worth about $5.3 million based on its payroll data and reasonable assumptions about the number of violations experienced by each potential class member, Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said Wednesday.
Smiths estimated that the meal and rest break claims are worth roughly $4.77 million, and that class counsel would likely receive about $1.19 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, the court said. Together, this exceeds the Class Action Fairness Act’s $5 million benchmark.
The company assumed a 60% violation rate for the meal period claims and 100% for the rest break claims, the court said. These assumptions are reasonable given that the complaint states employees were “systemically” denied meal periods and “never” received rest breaks, it said.
It’s also reasonable to assume that the attorneys would receive 25% of the total in fees and costs, the court said.
The court thus denied plaintiff Viet Nguyen’s motion to remand the case back to Alameda County Superior Court.
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