Brandon McKelvey Quoted in Law360
"Dukes Dooms Class in WinCo Meal Break Suit"

Seyfarth Shaw partner Brandon McKelvey was quoted in Law360 on January 5. The article discussed a California federal court decision, which denied a motion brought by WinCo Foods LLC workers who claimed they were denied meal breaks, due to lack of commonality under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Inc.

The judge held that the plaintiffs also did not adequately represent the class, which they claimed included some supervisors, which they were not.

“It's a significant win for WinCo and many other employers facing these kinds of cases because it shows that the landscape has changed dramatically since the Supreme Court issued Dukes v. Walmart,” said Brandon, who represents WinCo Foods.

“Federal courts in particular are taking a closer look at class certification motions like these,” he said. “So in cases like this one where WinCo had managers who had discretion over break policies, it is much harder to certify a class in federal court under Dukes.”

Brandon also pointed out that WinCo had recently defeated class certification in a case brought in California federal court by assistant store managers who claimed they were misclassified as exempt from overtime pay.