Another Off-The-Clock Case Felled By Time Study

Last week, we discussed the decision of the Northern District of California in Rodriguez v. Nike Retail Services, Inc., Case No. 14-cv-01508-BLF (N.D. Cal. Sept. 12, 2017), in which the employer's use of a time study resulted in summary judgment being granted against the entire class in an off-the-clock case involving post-shift bag searches. That court has now issued a similar decision, Chavez v. Converse, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-03746 NC (N.D. Cal., Oct. 11, 2017), involving a different shoe retailer.

Like the Rodriguez case, this one involved a shoe store that required employees departing at the end of their shifts to submit to bag searches designed to deter employee theft. As with the Rodriguez case, the court initially certified the class, but was later presented with time study data that reflected that the average bag search was completed in well under a minute. In this instance, the court further discounted anecdotal evidence of searches taking upward of 18