Transportation 39

The California Court of Appeals in Arenas v. El Torito Restaurants, Inc. denied class certification to a group of restaurant managers who claimed to be misclassified as exempt from overtime wages with unpaid overtime due to them.  The Court denied certification of the class because the managers did not share a common pool of interest to gain class entitlement to overtime, due to the wide variation in the different manager's duties.  This is relevant because motor carriers in California and around the country are facing wage and hour claims by independent contractor drivers who seek to be reclassified as employees in order to be covered under the applicable wage and hour laws.