Recently published in Bloomberg Law, LCW Partners Liz Arce and Geoff Sheldon contributed to the favorable outcome for Los Angeles County in the case of Hubbard v. County of Los Angeles. The trainees argued that they were not compensated for all hours spent in a hotel under a compressed training schedule designed to reduce Covid-19 risks. Despite receiving 40 hours of standard pay and 20 hours of overtime weekly, they sought payment for additional hotel time. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that the claims were time-barred by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) two-year statute of limitations.
Judge Percy Anderson determined that equitable tolling of the deadline to sue was not warranted and that the county had not acted willfully, which could have extended the limitations period to three years. As a result, the trainees’ claims, including those of plaintiff Bryan Hubbard and over 165 others who joined his collective action, were dismissed. The county’s defense was supported by Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, while the workers were represented by Ray & Seyb LLP.