The Alliance for Community Wellness, a nonprofit set up to assist people infected with HIV, has been hit with a representative action lawsuit, accusing the organization of shorting worker pay, denying workers required breaks, and other alleged violations of California labor law.
The lawsuit is another brought against an employer under California's controversial Private Attorney General Act, which allows trial lawyers and a named plaintiff to sue an employer on behalf of many other workers over alleged violations of state labor law.
The lawyers can then often collect large legal fees.
In the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the Alliance is accused of "failure to pay minimum wages, failure to pay overtime wages, failure to provide meal periods, failure to authorize and permit rest periods, failure to maintain accurate records of hours worked and meal periods, failure to timely pay all wages to terminated employees, failure to indemnify necessary business expenses, and failure to furnish accurate wage statements."
The underpayment of wages cost employees by understating the wages truly due them to have reduced government benefits such as Social Security and unemployment, the suit alleges. It seeks to represent all employees who work for the Alliance over the last four years.
The alliance often required employees to work more than five hours without a 30-minute meal break, the suit says.
"Defendants also did not adequately inform Plaintiff and the Class of their right to take a meal period by the end of the fifth hour of work, or, for shifts greater than 10 hours, by the end of the 10th hour of work," the suit contends. "Accordingly, Defendants’ policy and practice was to not provide meal periods to Plaintiff and the Class in compliance with California law."
The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages plus interest, as well as attorney fees and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Kane Moon, Daniel J. Park and Michael Citrin, of Moon Law Group PC.
Austin v. The Alliance for Community Wellness, San Francisco Superior Court, CGC-23-60910.