Kostyuk v. Golden State Overnight, Inc.

Class Action Meal and Rest Breaks Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)

On April 8, 2017, the Alameda County Superior Court granted final approval of a $1.25 million settlement in the case of Kostyuk v. Golden State Overnight, Inc.

This litigation involved two related putative class actions on behalf of approximately 1,435 putative class members.  Kostyuk was filed in Alameda County Superior Court on May 29, 2014.  Melgar was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on July 14, 2015 and was subsequently deemed related to Kostyuk and transferred to Alameda County.

Golden State Overnight Delivery Service, Inc. (“GSO”) is an overnight courier delivery service, serving all of California and select metropolitan areas in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.  Plaintiffs and the putative class members are current and former non-exempt delivery drivers who were paid on a piece-rate system, i.e. per delivery/stop completed.

The Plaintiffs alleged that each driver starts the workday at an office or “base,” where the driver receives his or her route for the day, scans the packages and loads them into his or her vehicle, maps out the route, and then proceeds on the delivery route.  Drivers often work two routes in the same day.  In such instances, a driver will return to the “base” after completing the first route, load up his or her vehicle with the packages for the second route, and then proceed on the second route.  At the end of the final route of the day, if any packages are undeliverable, or if the driver has picked up a package along the route, the driver will return to the base with the undeliverable packages or the packages that were picked up.  If all packages were delivered successfully and no packages were picked up, then the driver will drive home from his or her last delivery.  Drivers also used their personal vehicles to make deliveries.

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