A federal court in Los Angeles just proved that, even after many
years of difficult, protracted litigation, and despite several
pretrial rulings in plaintiffs’ favor, an employer that is
willing to take a wage and hour dispute to trial can still pull out
a victory, even at the last minute—and even on relatively
close questions. The Ortega v. J.B. Hunt Transport
decision is one that all California employers can look to as a
beacon of hope in a sometimes-murky legal atmosphere.
Employer Faces Several Stumbling Blocks During Class Claim
In 2008, a group of California truck drivers filed suit against
their employer, J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Their claims included
allegations that their employer’s piece-rate compensation
system (which provided payment by the mile) did not pay them wages
for all time worked; for example, they pointed to the fact that
some of their work duties involved tasks where the trucks were not
moving (such as cleaning and fueling, waiting at
