Bryan et al v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. et al

Filing 313

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STAY 290 . (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 6/24/2016)

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1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 6 CHARLES RIDGWAY, et al., CASE NO. 3:08-cv-05221-SI Plaintiffs, 7 v. ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STAY 8 9 10 WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendant. Re: Dkt. No. 290 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 Currently before the Court is defendant Wal-Mart's motion to stay this case until the Ninth 13 Circuit resolves the pending appeal of Ortega v. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., No. 14-56034 (9th 14 Cir.). Dkt. No. 290 (“Motion”). Plaintiffs have filed an opposition. Dkt. No. 305. Wal-Mart has 15 replied. Dkt. No. 308. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), the Court finds this matter suitable for 16 resolution without oral argument and VACATES the hearing currently scheduled for July 1, 2016. 17 Wal-Mart argues that the Ortega appeal will “bear directly on summary judgment and trial 18 proceedings before this Court” and that staying the case is the most efficient way to proceed. 19 Motion at 1-2. In Ortega, truck driver plaintiffs alleged that J.B. Hunt violated California's 20 minimum wage laws by failing to directly compensate its drivers for certain activities. Ortega, 21 No. 07-cv-8336-BRO, 2014 WL 2884560, at *1 (C.D. Cal. June 4, 2014). In granting summary 22 judgment for the defendant, the district court held that the Federal Aviation Administration 23 Authorization Act ("FAAAA") preempted such claims. Id. at *6. Wal-Mart intends to file its own 24 motion for summary judgment of plaintiffs’ minimum wage claims based on FAAAA preemption 25 shortly, but argues that a stay would be the better course at this time. Mem. P. & A. at 1. 26 The Court disagrees. Ortega concerned a separate matter raised by different parties in 27 another court. Moreover, the Central District of California decided Ortega before it had the 28 benefit of the Ninth Circuit’s guidance in Dilts v. Penske Logistics, LLC, 769 F.3d 637, 650 1 (2014), in which the appeals court found that the FAAAA does not preempt California meal and 2 rest break laws as applied to defendant motor carriers. This case against Wal-Mart commenced 3 nearly eight years ago and was already stayed for three years. Dkt. Nos. 1, 32, 37. The Court is 4 reluctant to issue another stay at this time, particularly given that the Ortega appeal has been 5 pending for several years and the opening brief in the Ninth Circuit is not due for two more 6 months. See Mem. P. & A. at 1. The question of FAAAA preemption of California minimum 7 wage law appears to be a new issue in this case,1 and the Court will consider that question when 8 Wal-Mart files its motion for summary judgment on July 8, 2016. 9 For the foregoing reasons, the Court hereby DENIES Wal-Mart's motion to stay. 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: June 24, 2016 ______________________________________ SUSAN ILLSTON United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 In February 2013, Wal-Mart moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ fourth amended complaint based in part on arguments that the FAAAA preempted plaintiffs’ meal and rest break claims. Dkt. No. 65. The motion did not argue for preemption of the minimum wage claims. 2

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