Gomez

Introduction

Defendant Lineare, Inc. (Lineare), provides respiratory services and medical equipment setup to patients in their homes. Plaintiffs Jose Gomez, Daniel Gutierrez, and Donny Talbot (collectively, plaintiffs) were service representatives for Lineare. Their job duties included driving vans containing liquid oxygen and compressed oxygen, which are defined by the federal government as hazardous materials. In addition to their regular, eight-hour workdays, plaintiffs regularly worked on call in the evenings and on weekends.

Plaintiffs sued Lineare to recover unpaid compensation. Specifically, plaintiffs sought compensation for the on-call time spent resolving customer questions by phone, and for all the time they were on call, even when not responding to customer calls. Plaintiffs also claimed they were entitled to a premium rate of compensation, rather than their regular rate of compensation, for all hours worked in excess of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. Lineare filed motions for summary judgment and/or summary adjudication and demurrers. The trial court’s rulings on those motions ultimately resolved every cause of action against plaintiffs. Judgment…