Booher

INTRODUCTION

This appeal concerns the interplay of California labor law and federal

1 transportation regulations. Defendant Poma employs truck drivers to transport hazardous

and nonhazardous materials. Plaintiffs Jack L. Booher, Jr., and Nelson Ramirez are two

former Poma employees who claim that, because of federal regulation, they could not

exercise their state statutory right to take unpaid off-duty meal and rest breaks and Poma

did not pay them for on-duty meal and rest breaks between 2006 and October 2009.

Plaintiffs seek to be certified as representatives of a class of 59 hazardous materials

(hazmat) drivers.

In their second amended complaint (SAC), plaintiffs allege that Poma engaged in

systematic wage and hour abuse involving meal periods, rest periods, minimum wages,

overtime, and wage statements and records. Plaintiffs appeal from the trial court’s order

denying their motion for class certification. (Code Civ. Proc., § 382.)

The trial court found that a common question exists about whether Department of

Transportation (DOT) regulations prevented Poma’s drivers from taking off-duty meal or

rest breaks. But the trial court concluded that individual questions…