Lopez, et al., v. City of Montebello

This wage and hour class action was brought on behalf of 168 bus drivers who were current and former employees of Defendant, the City of Montebello (“Montebello”) (“Class Members”). These drivers were employed in the transportation industry and, thus, subject to Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”) Wage Order 9-2001 (“WO 9”).

In 2004, the IWC amended WO 9 so that the meal and rest break provisions of that order applied to drivers employed by any government entity, including cities.  As Barry Broad, who was directly involved in those amendments, has explained, the 2004 amendments were “meant to cover every public employer, including the City of Montebello.”

However, in yeas following those amendments, Montebello failed to provide adequate meal and rest breaks to its drivers.  After the drivers sued, it agreed to pay them $1 million to resolve their claims.