White v. Starbucks Corp.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 7 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 30 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee only if the first meal period was not waived.”

   7 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court · Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

2. “an employer would have to pay an additional hour of pay every time an employee voluntarily chose to forego a break. This suggests a situation in which a company punishes an employee who foregoes a break only to be punished itself by having to pay the employee. In effect, employees would be able to manipulate the process and manufacture claims by skipping breaks or taking breaks of fewer than 30 minutes, entitling them to compensation of one hour of pay for each violation. This cannot have been the intent of the California Legislature, and the court declines to find a rule that would create such perverse and incoherent incentives.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court · Kenny v. Supercuts, Inc.

3. “Meal Periods [¶] (A) No employer shall employ any person for a work period of more than five (5) hours without a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that when a work period of not more than six (6) hours will complete the day's work the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee. . . . [¶] (B) If an employer fails to provide an employee a meal period in accordance with the applicable provisions of this order, the employer shall pay the employee one (1) hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal period is not provided.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court · Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.