Facts
Defendant is a Delaware Corporation with its principal place of business in California. Plaintiffs are employed by Defendant as Instructors. Instructors are required to travel throughout the United States, including California, to perform work for Oracle. The Plaintiffs resided in Colorado and Arizona, but worked in California from 2001 through 2004. None of the Plaintiffs worked more than 33 days in California in any given year. Plaintiffs filed a Complaint alleging claims for violation of the Labor Code and California’s Unfair Competition Law for failing to pay overtime wages for the days they worked in California, and a third claim for failing to pay overtime throughout the United States. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment and argued that California labor laws do not apply to non-residents who work primarily in other states. The District court granted summary judgment.
Holding
Reversed in part. California’s Labor Code applies to work performed in California by nonresidents of California. The Ninth Circuit applied California state law, where the Supreme Court has previously ruled that California’s employment laws govern all work performed within the state, regardless of the residence or domicile of the worker.