Car Dealership Employees Sue For Unpaid Rest Breaks

Car Dealership employees in Los Angeles, California, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against their employer.  Zakay Law Group, APC filed the complaint together with the JCL Law Firm, APC.  The California employment law firms joined forces to file the lawsuit on June 1, 2019.  The firms’ California employment attorneys filed the complaint with the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The Plaintiff in the action worked for Frontier Auto Sales, Inc. as an assistant sales manager.  Frontier Auto Sales does business as Frontier Toyota, and operates a Toyota car dealership in Los Angeles county.  The Plaintiff worked for Frontier Toyota since 2013, but left the company in May 2019.  In her complaint, the former assistant sales manager is seeking to represent all sales people who worked for the car dealership since June 2015.

As an assistant sales manager, Plaintiff’s primary income came from commissions she earned when selling cars.  In California, employees who work on commission are entitled to paid rest breaks at their regular rate of pay.  In other words, car dealership sales people are usually entitled to 10-minutes of extra pay at their regular hourly rate for every 4 hours they work for their employer.   According to the Complaint, Frontier Toyota underpaid its sales people for their 10-minute rest breaks, paying them only $2 per break.  Plaintiff contends, however, that these payment should have been much higher.

The Complaint includes causes of action for unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, non-compliant meal breaks, non-compliant rest breaks, and related penalties.  The action further contends that these conduct constituted unfair business practice under the California Business and Professions Code.

The lawsuit seeks, on behalf of the Plaintiff and a group of other California employees, monetary damages for the underpaid rest breaks.  The lawsuit also seeks monetary penalties for inaccurate pay statements and late payments to terminated employees.  Finally, the action seeks a Court order requiring the California car dealership to comply with California labor laws.

For more information about the lawsuit, please feel free to review the Complaint here.

If you or anyone you know works as a sales persons at a California car dealership, you may be entitled to increased pay for your rest periods.  Please contact our California employment attorneys for a free legal consultation.