Reddish

BACKGROUND

The plaintiffs represent a certified class of current and former employees of Westamerica Bank who allege that Westamerica violated the Labor Code, including rules governing compensation for overtime, meals, and rest breaks. In their trial plan, the plaintiffs proposed, and Westamerica agreed, that the parties would depose 30 class members as part of a pilot study to determine how many additional depositions are needed for a valid random sample of the class generally. Over Westamerica’s objection, the trial court ordered that the parties share the deposition costs equally.

DISCUSSION

A. Whether an order is appealable is a jurisdictional question. (Baker v. Castaldi (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 218, 222.) When, as here, the order is not appealable, we must dismiss the appeal. (Ibid.) Civil cases in California are governed by the “one final judgment” rule, which “prohibits review of intermediate rulings by appeal until final resolution of the case.” (Griset v. Fair Political Practices Com. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 688, 697.) The rule is a bedrock principle of appellate practice, codified in Code of Civil Procedure, section 904.1.1 (In re Baycol Cases I & II (2011) 51 Cal.4th 751,…