Vector Resources, Inc. v. Baker CA4/1

This action arises out of a determination by the Department of Industrial Relations (the Department) that plaintiff Vector Resources, Inc. (Vector), failed to pay the appropriate prevailing wages to its workers on a public works project for the San Diego Unified School District. Specifically, the Director of Industrial Relations (the Director) issued a decision in which she found that Vector underpaid its employees by failing to pay a higher “shift differential” rate for work performed during shifts commencing after 12:00 noon. The Director’s decision was based on regulatory language in a document entitled “Important Notice To Awarding Bodies and Other Interested Parties Regarding Shift Differential Pay in the Director’s General Prevailing Wage Determinations” (the Important Notice), which was posted on the Department’s Web site. The Important Notice addresses shift differential pay for various crafts used on public works projects, and is augmented by additional regulatory language in a “Note” that the Department places on the cover page of prevailing shift provisions. The parties refer to this Note as “the Stamp.”

Vector filed a declaratory relief action against the…