Penske to Appeal Meal Break Ruling to Supreme Court
Attorneys for Penske Logistics said they plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court’s decision upholding a California law requiring employers to provide a paid 30-minute meal break for employees working more than five hours.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July reversed a lower court ruling supporting Penske’s position and sent the 2008 lawsuit filed against Penske back to the district court for trial.
The appeals court earlier this month rejected a request by Penske that the case be reviewed by the full court before proceeding to trial.
Then on Sept. 15, Penske requested that the circuit court stay the case for 90 days to allow it to seek the high court review.
The three-judge panel held that California’s meal and rest break laws were not related to Penske’s “prices, routes or services” and were therefore not pre-empted by the federal pre-emption clause in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994.
The FAAAA law blocks state laws from interfering with carriers’ operations relating to “prices, routes or services.”
