In a striking legal development, a class action lawsuit has been filed against a California corporation, alleging widespread labor violations. On October 30, 2024, Jonathan Castro filed the complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, targeting Pacific Clinics. The lawsuit accuses the defendant of multiple breaches of the California Labor Code and seeks to address grievances on behalf of similarly affected employees.
The plaintiff, Jonathan Castro, claims that Pacific Clinics systematically failed to compensate its hourly-paid or non-exempt employees for overtime work and did not provide legally mandated meal and rest breaks. The complaint outlines numerous violations under various sections of the California Labor Code, including unpaid overtime (Sections 510 and 1198), unpaid meal period premiums (Sections 226.7 and 512(a)), unpaid rest period premiums (Section 226.7), unpaid minimum wages (Sections 1194, 1197, and 1197.1), and failure to timely pay final wages upon termination (Sections 201 and 202). Furthermore, it alleges that Pacific Clinics issued non-compliant wage statements (Section 226(a)) and failed to maintain requisite payroll records (Section 1174(d)). These alleged infractions extend from September 27, 2018, to the present day.
The lawsuit highlights specific grievances such as the lack of compensation for hours worked beyond eight per day or forty per week without receiving due overtime pay. It also points out failures in providing uninterrupted meal periods for shifts exceeding five hours or ten hours without additional compensation when these breaks were missed. Castro argues that these practices were part of a broader pattern aimed at maximizing profits at the expense of employee rights.
Jonathan Castro is seeking class certification for this lawsuit under Section 382 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. He aims to represent all current and former hourly-paid or non-exempt employees who worked for Pacific Clinics within California during the specified period. The relief sought includes restitution for unpaid wages, statutory penalties for each violation per employee per pay period as outlined by various sections of the Labor Code, reimbursement for business-related expenses incurred by employees but not compensated by Pacific Clinics, as well as attorney fees and costs.
Representing Jonathan Castro is Arby Aiwazian from Lawyers for Justice PC based in Glendale, California. The case has been assigned Case No.: 24CV450668 with Judge M. Suarez presiding over it in Santa Clara County's Superior Court.