In the case of Cecilia A. Portillo-Cardoza and Jorge Santacruz versus Fox Transportation, Inc., et al., filed in the First Appellate District Division Five of the Court of Appeal of the State of California, case ID A166526, on May 1, 2024, the plaintiffs appeal a trial court's order denying their motion to advance trial and dismissing a certified class action for failure to timely prosecute. The lawsuit was initially filed on December 21, 2016, by Portillo-Cardoza and Santacruz as a class action complaint against Fox Transportation, its payroll administrator Peoplease LLC, and individual defendants Michael Fox, Mary Anne Fox, Alexandra Fox, Miguel Cuevas, and Jesus Cuevas. The plaintiffs alleged wage and hour violations including shorted overtime wages and denied meal and rest breaks without additional wages paid. They also claimed that time was deducted from wages to create a false appearance of provided breaks.
The plaintiffs further accused the defendants of violating the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 by failing to disclose available sick leave on wage statements and not providing mandated sick leave to employees. Discovery proceeded slowly with written discovery propounded to Fox and Peoplease within six months of filing their action seeking information about non-exempt employees' identification, hours worked, and pay records. However, responses were delayed until 2021 due to additional requests.
Portillo-Cardoza and Santacruz are seeking judgment for these Labor Code violations both as a class action under Code of Civil Procedure section 382 and as a representative action for civil penalties under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). They also allege individual retaliation and wrongful termination claims.