FEATURED SETTLEMENT: Penske Logistics settles class-action suit with truck drivers

Dilts et al v. Penske Logistics LLC, et al (S.D. Cal. No. 3:08-cv-003018): After nine years of litigation, the parties in this class action matter reached a settlement wherein Penske Logistics agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a dispute where they were alleged to have violated the California Labor Code and Unfair Competition law by failing to compensate California truck drivers for meals and rest breaks. In the underlying matter, plaintiffs claimed that they were not offered requisite breaks, and that their pay was deducted for untaken breaks from delivery drivers and Whirlpool appliances installers. The proposed settlement was based on "rational discounting" due to Penske's claim that there was no class-wide policy to deny second meal periods, alleging that the drivers either waived their second meal periods or took such breaks combined with their first meal breaks. The parties settled in advance of trial, which was scheduled to commence on February 6, 2017.