HBO, Production Company Hit with Class Action Over Alleged California Labor Law Violations

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) and production company Cooler Waters Productions, LLC face a proposed class action filed out of California by a background actor who claims he was shortchanged with respect to overtime wages and meal and break period premium pay.

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.

The 18-page lawsuit accuses HBO and the production company of a slew of alleged violations of California labor law, including the failure to pay proper overtime wages and meal and rest period premiums, provide accurate wage statements and issue all wages earned prior to an employee’s termination.

The plaintiff, a California resident who worked for the companies as a non-union background actor on the show “Winning Time” in September 2022, claims he and other employees earned various forms of incentive pay on top of their base rate, including shift differentials or lump sum payments for “wet work,” performances involving smoke, getting a haircut, wearing body make-up, working at night and more.

According to the suit, the defendants wrongfully excluded these forms of incentive pay when calculating the plaintiff’s regular rate, which is used to determine overtime and double time wages. As a result, the man and other workers were underpaid with respect to overtime and double time wages, the case alleges.

Further, state labor law stipulates that an employer must pay workers one additional hour of pay at their regular rate of compensation when employees work more than four consecutive hours without a required 10-minute rest break, or when they work more than five consecutive hours without a 30-minute meal break, the complaint explains.

However, when calculating these meal and break period premiums, HBO and the production company once again failed to include the various forms of incentive pay in employees’ regular wages, the filing contends. This resulted in the underestimation of meal and break period premium pay, the lawsuit claims.

In addition, the suit charges that the companies failed to provide employees with itemized wage statements and issue all unpaid wages due at the end of a worker’s employment, as required under California labor law.

The lawsuit looks to represent any current or former non-exempt, non-union employee of either defendant employed as background talent in California who, since May 22, 2019, was paid overtime wages and/or meal and break period premium pay on the same workday that they were also paid “incentive pay,” which includes at least shift differentials or lump sum payments for wet work and smoke work, hair and body make-up premiums, wardrobe allowances or night premiums. The suit also seeks to cover those workers whose employment by either defendant ended at any time since May 22, 2020.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.