Mendez-Villegas
Mendez-Villegas v. Duarte Nursery CA5
Opinion
Opinion
FACTS
GENERAL BACKGROUND
On April 22, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a class action complaint against defendants (1) Duarte Nursery, Inc. (DNI); (2) Michael Duarte; (3) Jeff Duarte; (4) John Duarte; (5) Patricia Lopez; and (6) Engracia Lopez. The original complaint stated seven causes of action against DNI arising from violations of the Labor Code and a violation of the unfair competition law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.). An eighth cause of action stated a PAGA claim against all defendants. Plaintiffs filed the operative first amended class action complaint (FAC) on August 12, 2015. The FAC stated the same causes of action but removed Michael Duarte as a defendant. Defendants2 filed their operative second amended answer on December 28, 2015. According to the record, the parties litigated discovery disputes in 2018 over Defendants “unaltered” timekeeping data that culminated in the trial court granting a motion to compel production of documents on July 31, 2018. Following this, Plaintiffs’ database expert, Aaron Woolfson, visited DNI’s facility on December 8, 2018.