Carrie A. Gonell

She also has experience with oral advocacy in courts throughout California and nationally, including but not limited to the California Supreme Court, the Ninth and Second Circuits, and the federal Multidistrict Litigation panel. Carrie also advises clients with respect to compliance with the FLSA, state wage payment statutes, and other wage and hour requirements.

Wage and Hour Class and/or Collective Action Experience

• Defeated class certification in action alleging off-the-clock, regular rate, meal/rest periods, and related wage and hour claims.
• Defeated putative nationwide FLSA collective action and New Jersey class action alleging misclassification and off-the-clock work by various bank branch employees.
• Defeated class certification in a case brought on behalf of bank tellers alleging that their employer violated California law by failing to provide them with suitable seating at their workplaces.
• Defeated class certification in action brought by financial services relationship managers alleging misclassification.
• Defeated class certification in action alleging misclassification of nonlicensed accounting professionals as exempt from overtime.
• Secured dismissal of the representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) allegations in a putative class action on behalf of sales floor employees claiming failure to provide suitable seating.
• Defeated class certification in purported nationwide collective action and California class action seeking overtime pay and reimbursements and alleging failure to provide meal and rest breaks and itemized wage statements on behalf of a financial services company.
• Defeated class certification in purported California class action seeking expense reimbursements for loan officers.
• Defeated class certification and collective action notice in purported nationwide FLSA collective action and New York State class action challenging the overtime exemption status of store managers and claiming that nonexempt store-level employees worked off the clock without paying overtime or minimum wages.
• Defeated class certification on meal and rest break claims in California wage and hour class action brought by bankers alleging that they were misclassified and seeking overtime pay and meal and rest period pay; overtime claims settled while additional briefing on certification was pending.
• Nationwide wage and hour class and FLSA collective action alleging unpaid wages for preshift and postshift time for financial services branch employees, inter alia; settled on very favorable terms pending a decision on certification.
• Purported nationwide FLSA collective action claiming that call center employees worked “off the clock.”
• Secured dismissal and compelled arbitration, upholding collection action waiver, in putative FLSA collective action seeking overtime pay for retail store managers.
• Purported New York State class action challenging the overtime exemption status of “back-office” employees and claiming that New York-based call center employees worked “off the clock”; resolved following motion to dismiss.
• Purported nationwide FLSA collective action and New York State class action challenging the overtime exemption status of customer service representatives in federal court; withdrawn by plaintiffs following motion to dismiss.

Arbitration

• Obtained a ruling granting motion to compel arbitration in a putative state law wage and hour class action filed against a financial services company.
• Convinced court to grant motion compelling arbitration in California wage and hour class action filed against a national retailer.
• Obtained ruling granting motion to compel arbitration on all non-PAGA claims in wage and hour class action filed against a financial services company.