Chavez v. Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Plaintiff-Appellant Michael Chavez timely appeals from an order of the district court granting summary judgement in favor of Defendants-Appellees Time Warner Cable LLC, Time Warner Entertainment Company, and Time Warner Shared Services (collectively, “TWC”). In January 2011, Chavez filed a class action complaint against TWC in California state court, alleging violations of California labor law. In May 2012, after satisfying state administrative exhaustion requirements, Chavez amended his complaint to include penalties under California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 .(“PAGA”), Cal. Lab.Code §§ 2699(a), 2699.3. TWC removed to federal court, where the district court found jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”) based on the additional claims for PAGA penalties. TWC calculated the required $5,000,000 amount in controversy by determining the number of allegedly aggrieved employees and then determining the penalties that each individual would be awarded for the PAGA claim. In total, this amounted to over $5.5 million, and the district court concluded that TWC had satisfied its burden of proving the jurisdictional amount.