TENTATIVE 

Plaintiff Marta Elvira Rodriguez Capacho (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Nuevo San Miguel Restaurant Group Inc. (“Defendant”) and Does 1 through 20 for damages arising from her employment with Defendant as a waitress. Plaintiff sets forth eight causes of action for (1) failure to pay wages, (2) failure to pay minimum wages, (3) failure to pay overtime compensation, (4) failure to pay meal and rest periods, (5) failure to pay itemized wage and hour statements, (6) waiting time penalties, (7) failure to permit inspection of personnel and payroll records, and (8) unfair competition. 

Plaintiff seeks default judgment against Defendant, and she has properly dismissed all unnamed Doe defendants. (Req. for Dismissal, June 21, 2024.) 

The request for default judgment submitted on June 21, 2024 is CONDITIONALLY GRANTED provided Plaintiff submits a new CIV-100 which completes Item 8. Even though Defendant is not an individual defendant (Req. for Judicial Notice, June 21, 2024), this section must still be completed pursuant to CRC 3.1800(a)(5). Item 8(e) expressly provides for business entities. Upon Plaintiff submitting a new CIV-100 in conformity with the foregoing, the following shall apply. 

Plaintiff seeks $44,886.12 in principal damages, as pled in the complaint, for the following: Unpaid minimum wage compensation ($8,196.00), unpaid overtime compensation ($4,180.96), payment of meal and rest period compensation ($23,187.76), damages pursuant to Labor Code §226 ($4,000.00), waiting time penalties pursuant to Labor Code §§201-203 ($4,571.40), and statutory penalties pursuant to Labor Code §1198.5 ($750.00). 

Plaintiff sufficiently supports the $44,886.12 in principal damages requested, and it is therefore granted. 

Plaintiff seeks prejudgment interest in the amount of $2,250.90 based on 10% per annum of the principal damages. However, Plaintiff does not demonstrate that she is entitled to prejudgment interest of 10% for the entirety of the principal amount. For example, this prejudgment calculation includes $23,187.76 for meal and rest break penalties. A claim for meal and rest break penalties under Labor Code section 226.7 is not an “action brought for nonpayment of wages” that entitles a plaintiff to attorney fees and interest. (Id. at p. 1259; Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (2019) 40 Cal.App.5th 444, 475.) Plaintiff is entitled to prejudgment interest on only her lost wages.  

Interest is awarded as to Plaintiff’s damages in the amount of $12,376.96 ($8,196.00 + $4,180.96) for unpaid wages. Pursuant to Labor Code § 218.6, this amount is multiplied by a 10% interest rate for annual interest in the amount of $1,237.70 (rounded up by the cent). This amount is then divided by 365 days for a daily interest of $3.39. Plaintiff seeks interest from January 4, 2024 to entry of default judgment, which was on April 8, 2024. (See Entry of Default, April 8, 2024.) The amount of $3.39 multiplied by 95 days for prejudgment interest equates to $322.14. 

Therefore, prejudgment interest in the total amount of $322.14 will be awarded.    

Plaintiff seeks $8,531.50 in attorney fees. However, Plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees is greater than that listed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Local Rule 3.214 fee schedule. “An application for a fee greater than listed in the foregoing schedule because of extraordinary services must include an itemized statement of the services rendered or to be rendered.”¿(Local Rule 3.214 (d).) Although Plaintiff’s counsel provides an itemized statement of services, Plaintiff’s counsel has not demonstrated that the work performed on this case was extraordinary within the meaning intended by Local Rule 3.214(d). Consequently, the Court finds that no extraordinary services were rendered to justify the total fee requested greater than the fee schedule.  

Pursuant to Local Rules of Court 3.214, the following will apply: “$10,000.01 to $50,000, $690 plus 3% of the excess over $10,000.”  

Plaintiff is granted $1,736.58 in attorney’s fees. The amount of $1,736.58 allowable is based on the following calculation: ($44,886.12 - $10,000) x 3% + $690 = $1,736.58 

Plaintiff seeks costs in the amount of $696.52 for $558.26 in clerk’s filing fees, $61.05 in process server’s fees, $17.21 in postage fees, and $60.00 in investigation fees via Transunion. The clerk’s filing fees and process server’s fees fees are allowable pursuant to CCP § 1033.5(a)(1) and (a)(4). However, investigation fees and postage are not (CCP § 1033.5(b)(2) and (b)(3)); the non-conforming costs of $77.21 will be stricken. 

Plaintiff is granted $619.31 in costs.