Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 22STCV06872, Date: 2023-02-23 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV06872    Hearing Date: February 23, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

            On 9/30/2022, Plaintiff Junny Kim (Plaintiff) filed suit against Young Hee Lee dba Grace Togo, alleging: (1) failure to pay minimum wage; (2) unpaid overtime; (3) unpaid meal period premiums; (4) unpaid rest period premiums; (5) waiting time penalties; (6) non-compliant wage statements; (7) failure to reimburse business expenses; and (8) violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200.

            Now, Plaintiff moves for summary judgment of the Complaint.

            The motion is unopposed.

Discussion

Plaintiff argues that she is entitled to summary judgment because Defendant has admitted to the following:

-         Plaintiff was employed by Defendant from July 7, 2020 to January 31, 2022;

-         Plaintiff was a non-exempt employee;

-         Plaintiff worked from 4:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (10 hours/day) Monday through Friday;

-         Plaintiff was paid a fixed day rate of $128.00 ($16.00 x 8 hours);

-         Plaintiff was paid an hourly rate of $16.00;

-         Plaintiff was not paid overtime for hours worked beyond 8 hours per day;

-         Plaintiff was not paid overtime for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week;

-         Plaintiff was not paid 2 hours of overtime each day he worked;

-         Plaintiff did not receive uninterrupted rest periods;

-         Plaintiff did not receive his uninterrupted meal periods;

-         Plaintiff drove between 400 - 500 miles per day;

-         Plaintiff drove his own car to make deliveries;

-         Plaintiff did not receive mileage reimbursements for driving; and

-         Plaintiff did not receive wage statements.

(See SS ¶¶ 1- 22.)

Plaintiff’s evidence supports a reasonable inference that Defendant failed to pay minimum wage, failed to pay owed overtime, failed to pay meal and rest period premiums, failed to issue wage statements, and failed to reimburse business expenses. Accordingly, the burden shifts to Defendant to disclose a triable issue of material fact.

Defendant failed to oppose this motion and thus has not met the burden of proof to disclose a triable issue of material fact.

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  February    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar. 

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