Dykema Defeats Class Certification In Wage And Hour Action Brought Against National Retailer

Los Angeles

A federal judge has denied class certification in a suit brought by a former employee of Nautica Retail USA, a subsidiary of V.F. Corporation, alleging that the clothing (Nautica) and accessories (Kipling) retailer violated the California Labor Code by failing to provide employees with duty-free meal and rest breaks as mandated by the Industrial Welfare Commission and Cal. La. Code § 226.7. Plaintiff also claims that the retailer violated the California Labor Code by failing to pay employees all wages due immediately upon discharge. Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201, 202. Finally, Plaintiff charged the retailer with violating California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et. seq.

Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on October 27, 2009 that named Plaintiff Esperanza Mateo had failed to satisfy both the typicality requirement and the adequacy requirement because the retailer could assert unique defenses against her and because Plaintiff’s claims were not typical and she could not adequately represent the class.

Plaintiff Esperanza Mateo was represented by the Law Offices of Daniel Feder. Nautica Retail USA was represented by John L. Viola and Laura P. Worsinger of Dykema Gossett PLLC.