Class Action Claims Warner Bros. Failed to Pay Workers Timely Wages

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A proposed class and collective action claims WB Studio Enterprises, Inc. and Warner Bros. Television have failed to pay employees timely and complete wages and provide meal breaks in accordance with federal and California law.

The 27-page case was filed by a former employee who claims to have been paid weeks late after spending two days working for the defendants on two different projects. According to the complaint, Warner Bros. Television had a duty to ensure that the plaintiff was paid the promised wages yet failed to do so in a timely fashion. The case further claims the plaintiff and others were not provided with uninterrupted meal and rest breaks or paid premium wages for each missed break.

According to the complaint, workers in the motion picture industry frequently work short stints, sometimes for just one day, for their employer and are discharged when their work is completed. Regardless of how long a worker is with an employer, the employer is required by law to keep track of the worker’s hours, the case says. Moreover, wages earned between the first and 15^th day of each month must be paid between the 16^th and 26^th day of that month, while wages earned between the 16^th and last day of the month must be paid between the first and 10^th day of the following month, the suit explains.

Despite these requirements, Warner Bros. Television nevertheless failed to timely pay workers all wages due upon termination, according to the case.

The plaintiff says that although he worked on “The Kominsky Method” project on November 11, 2020 and had no return-to-work date after his job was done, his wage statement was not prepared until on or after December 10. Moreover, while the plaintiff spent a day working for the defendants on their “Lucifer” project on December 11, 2020, and again had no return-to-work date, his wage statement was not prepared until on or after January 27, 2021, the case alleges.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants’ apparent failure to pay workers timely wages and provide them with appropriate wage statements was due to both their refusal to sufficiently fund the payroll accounting function and a desire to pay workers from funds received for each project instead of working capital.

The suit goes on to claim that Warner Bros. Television did not provide workers with uninterrupted meal and rest breaks given crew members were required to monitor their walkie-talkies all day and were not permitted to leave the set during breaks. Further, the complaint alleges the defendants had a policy of failing to provide a meal break within the first six hours of a worker’s shift or a second meal break when an employee worked more than 12 hours. Per the case, workers are owed premium wages for each late or “faux meal break” during which they were not relieved of their duties.

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