Taft Secures Summary Judgment for Client in Wage and Hour Case

On Sept. 8, 2025, a federal judge in California granted summary judgment in favor of Taft's client, Spreckels Sugar Company, dismissing all remaining claims in a wage and hour lawsuit brought by a former seasonal employee.

Among the nine claims brought by the former employee were allegations of failure to pay minimum wages and overtime for time spent waiting to clock in at biometric iris scanners, as well as failure to reimburse business expenses.

Regarding the waiting-in-line claims, the court ruled the plaintiff's time was not compensable under California law, as he was not under the employer's "control"-or supervision-during this process. The court likened the situation to routine traffic delays an employee might experience when entering or exiting a worksite.

The court rejected the business expense claims due to lack of evidence, noting the plaintiff failed to show the reasonableness of his expenses, whether the company knew about the purchases, or when the items were purchased.

This dismissal builds on the team's prior success in defeating the employee's motion for class certification earlier this year.

The Taft team was led by partner Carrie Francis with support from associate Tim Lauxman.