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California Personal Injury Attorneys File Lawsuit Against Coca Cola
(PRWEB) November 10, 2011
The California employment attorneys of BISNAR CHASE (http://www.BestAttorney.com) today announced they have filed a class action lawsuit against Coca-Cola and its affiliates for allegedly violating multiple California labor laws (Case # BC469212) .
The case against Coca-Cola Enterprise, Inc., BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles, and BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Company, with facilities in and around Los Angeles County and other counties within the state, was brought by plaintiffs Timothy Sulu and Jonathan Verdugo for alleged labor law violations against both men and other Coca-Cola employees roughly 1,500 in all beginning in September 2007.
According to court documents, the defendants are accused of the following California labor law infractions:
- Failure to pay overtime wages for hours worked in excess of eight hours per day/40 hours per week
- Lack of providing uninterrupted meal-and-rest periods, and failing to pay adequate compensation for work performed during these periods
- Lack of reimbursement for expenditures or losses incurred by employees for use of their personal vehicles during work hours
- Lack of reimbursement for expenditures required to purchase and maintain company uniforms
- Failure to furnish accurate and itemized wage statements and failure to maintain accurate payroll records
The lawsuit goes on to say that in November 2010, the plaintiffs gave written notice to the defendants and to the Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) outlining provisions of the California Labor Code alleged to have been violated by the defendants, accompanied by evidence to support their claims. However, in January 2011, the plaintiffs received a response from the LWDA indicating the agency did not intend to investigate the allegations.
"This is a classic example of big business putting profits ahead of people," said Brian Chase, partner at BISNAR CHASE. "What's even more disturbing is the lack of any assistance provided by an agency designed to protect workers and enforce labor laws. At the very least, there should have been a formal investigation in this case."
Chase says this case is particularly egregious given that a majority of the alleged Coca-Cola labor law violations were based on requirements and/or conditions the company imposed upon its employees, such as working overtime without adequate compensation, working through meal-and-rest breaks without adequate compensation, using personal vehicles during work hours without reimbursing associated expenses, and requiring uniforms without making financial provisions for the purchase or maintenance of those uniforms.
"Beyond that, we believe the evidence will show Coca-Cola and its affiliates blatantly violated the most basic labor codes by failing to provide accurate earnings statements reflecting hours worked and wages owed," said Chase.
The lawsuit was initially filed in California state court, in Los Angeles, but was removed to federal court based on a motion filed by the defendants under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) on the grounds that potential financial liability could exceed $30 million.
Attorneys for BISNAR CHASE, who are evaluating whether a motion to remand is warranted, are seeking damages for unpaid wages, overtime compensation, premium wages for work performed through meal-and-rest periods, unreimbursed expenses and civil penalties pursuant to California labor codes. The case (#BC469212) was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
About BISNAR | CHASE
The BISNAR | CHASE Newport Beach personal injury lawyers represent people who have been very seriously injured or lost a family member due to truck and big rig accidents throughout California. The law firm has won a wide variety of challenging serious injury truck accident cases against a number of the nation's largest trucking companies on behalf of innocent victims. Get a complimentary copy of The Seven Fatal Mistakes That Can Wreck Your California Personal Injury Claim. For more information, please visit http://www.CaliforniaInjuryBlog.com.
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