Morales v. Factor Surfaces CA2/4

Filed 9/22/21 Morales v. Factor Surfaces CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(a). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115(a).

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR

BYRON JERRY MORALES, B306652

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. 19STCV05373) FACTOR SURFACES LLC, et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Susan Bryant-Deason, Judge. Affirmed. Caskey & Holzman, Marshall A. Caskey, Daniel M. Holzman and N. Cory Barari for Plaintiff and Respondent. Schiffer & Buus, Eric M. Schiffer and William L. Buus for Defendants and Appellants.

INTRODUCTION

Byron Jerry Morales sued his former employer, Factor Surfaces LLC (“Factor”), and its managing agent Gregory Factor (sometimes collectively referred to as appellants)1 for, among other things, unpaid overtime wages, meal and rest break compensation, statutory penalties for inaccurate wage statements, retaliation, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. After a bench trial, the trial court entered judgment in favor of Morales in the amount of $99,394.16, which included $42,792.00 in unpaid overtime wages. Factor’s sole contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in calculating Morales’s regular rate of pay for purposes of determining the amounts owed to Morales for unpaid overtime. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Morales accepted a full-time position at Factor, a tile and flooring store, in 2016. His duties included cleaning the warehouse, accepting shipments, making deliveries to job site locations, picking up tile from distributors, and assisting customers in selection of tile. Morales’s regular hours were Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Beginning March 9, 2018, Morales no longer worked every Saturday. In or around 2018, after asking Factor to be compensated for overtime hours, Morales was terminated.