A Spokane County Superior Court judge recently granted Crosner Legal’s motion to compel in a putative wage and hour class action against the owner of two affiliated Spokane-area businesses. The court ordered class-wide payroll, timekeeping, and employee records produced for all non-exempt workers of both companies, overruled every objection, and awarded attorney fees. The order addresses only discovery; nothing has been decided on the merits.
The Alleged Violations
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all non-exempt employees of the defendant’s Washington businesses, alleges that the defendant failed to provide compliant meal and rest periods, automatically deducted thirty minutes per shift for meal breaks that were allegedly missed or interrupted, required off-the-clock work, and failed to pay all minimum and overtime wages. The defendant denies the allegations and contends he is not an “employer” under Washington law.
The Discovery Fight
Over three rounds of responses, the defendant produced the plaintiff’s own personnel and pay records, handbook excerpts, and payroll data for a handful of positions at one company. He withheld the rest: class member names and contact information, complete payroll and time records for both companies, the full handbook, meal and rest period and premium pay records, the pay-code legend, meal period waivers, and arbitration agreements. His stated grounds were that no class had been certified, the requests were overbroad and burdensome, employee privacy barred disclosure, and he was not the employer or custodian because the plaintiff sued him individually rather than naming the companies.
The court granted the plaintiff’s motion in full.
Why It Matters
The “no class certified” objection is a catch-22. A plaintiff generally cannot show a class should be certified without the employer’s payroll data evidencing how many workers were affected and whether the same policies applied to them. Washington courts, following federal Rule 23 authority, reject prematurity as a basis for withholding that data.
Burden objections are not always sufficient. The party resisting discovery must show specific harm with evidence. Washington employers are required by law to keep time and pay records, and an employer that has already exported those records for one employee cannot credibly claim it is too burdensome to export them for the rest.
An owner can be the employer. Washington’s Minimum Wage Act defines “employer” to include any individual acting in the employer’s interest, and the Wage Rebate Act imposes personal liability, with double damages, on officers and agents who willfully withhold wages. An admitted owner and governor of two companies also has the legal right and practical ability to obtain both companies’ records, which is what matters under the discovery rules.
The class is defined by the common policy, not the plaintiff’s job title. If the alleged practice is an automatic meal deduction applied to all hourly workers, records for all hourly workers are relevant.
Talk to a Washington Wage and Hour Attorney
Crosner Legal represents employees in wage and hour class actions across Washington, Oregon, California, and Illinois, and other states across the country. If you believe you were denied meal or rest breaks, had time automatically deducted from your pay, worked off the clock, or were not paid overtime, contact us at (866) 276-7637 or through our website for a free and confidential case evaluation.
This post is attorney advertising and is provided for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The allegations described are allegations only; the defendant denies liability, and the order addresses discovery, not the merits. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.