Williams v. U.S. Bancorp Investments CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Williams filed this putative class action on April 23, 2010. The trial court stayed proceedings in September 2010, pending developments in another case, Burakoff v. U.S. Bancorp (Super. Ct. L.A. County, 2012,

1 No. BC341430). The court lifted the stay in July 2013. The trial court later denied a motion by defendants to compel arbitration of Williams’ individual claims and to dismiss the first amended class complaint, and in June 2016 we affirmed the denial of the motion to compel. (Williams v. U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. (June 27, 2016, A141199) [nonpub. opn.].) On remand, after conducting discovery relevant to class certification, defendants renewed their motion to compel arbitration of Williams’ individual claims and to dismiss the class claims, and the trial court granted the motion in October 2018. We reversed in a June 2020 decision. (Williams v. U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 111, 113, 116.) Plaintiffs Williams, Martin, and Freitas filed the operative second amended complaint (SAC) on May 9, 2023. The SAC alleges defendants employed plaintiffs as commission paid employees. Williams was employed as a financial advisor and…