Plaintiff Stephen Dieves worked for defendants Butte Sand Trucking Company, Butte Sand and Gravel, and Bailey Heavy Equipment Hauling, Inc. (collectively, Butte Sand) as a truck driver for approximately nine months between January and October 2018. Dieves sued Butte Sand for failure to provide meal and rest breaks, failure to reimburse for expenses, and violation of California’s unfair competition law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.). Dieves also brought a representative claim for penalties under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) (Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.).
Dieves appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion for class certification of the meal break, rest break, expense reimbursement, and unfair competition claims. Dieves also appeals the trial court’s order granting Butte Sand’s motion to strike the PAGA claim. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we affirm the trial court’s denial of Dieves’ motion for class certification of the rest break and expense reimbursement claims but reverse the denial of Dieves’ motion for class certification of the meal break claim and derivative unfair competition claim because the trial court failed to apply the burden-shifting framework in Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC (2021) 11 Cal.5th 58 (Donohue). We remand for further proceedings as directed herein.
In the published portion of this opinion, we reverse the trial court’s order granting Butte Sand’s motion to strike the PAGA claim and remand for further proceedings as directed herein because we find the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (Administration) December 28, 2018 decision (California’s Meal and Rest Break Rules for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers, 83 Fed.Reg. 67470-67480 (Dec. 28, 2018) (Preemption Decision)) applies to bar the meal and rest break (MRB) claims under California law regardless of when the conduct occurred. (Valiente v. Swift Transp. Co. of Ariz., LLC (9th Cir. 2022) 54 F.4th 581, 584 (Valiente).)
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