California Supreme Court tackles workplace break rules

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By Howard Mintz [e-mail]


For at least eight years, Santana Alvarado worked as a dishwasher and cook at a Chili's Restaurant in Concord, typically showing up for the job each day around 7 a.m.

But, based on his sworn testimony in an ongoing legal battle, Alvarado had trouble getting his bosses to even give him a break to eat. And when he and his co-workers did manage time off the clock to grab a meal, he recalled, "we were forced to eat in a storage room."

Now, Alvarado is one of five lead plaintiffs in a major legal showdown over employee meal and rest breaks that has reached the California Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the court is set to consider where to draw the line in defining employer obligations to ensure workers actually take breaks required under state law.

The case involves a potential statewide class action against Brinker International, which operates a chain of restaurants that includes such popular eating spots as Chili's and Maggiano's Little Italy, both with restaurants in San Jose's Santana Row. The lawsuit, which could cover tens of thousands of Brinker waiters, waitresses, bartenders, cooks and others, has been unfolding for eight years, claiming the chain's restaurants regularly failed to assure employees got their breaks and thus violated California labor laws.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_19278544?source=rss