Humes and Abella v. First Student, Inc. (Fresno)

Update: June 12, 2020 – Disbursement made of Payments to Class Members

At long last, people employed by First Student who drove in the Fresno yard from October, 2014 to November, 2016 should be receiving their payments relating to the settlement of this case.

Please note: Our office DOES NOT necessarily know who the members are unless they contact us and it’s been verified by First Student.  So if you are a member of the class, or feel you should be, and don’t receive any payment by mid-April, please contact Simpluris, the third party administrator (“TPA”) handling the payments, to ask about your situation.  

The TPA is in charge of making sure the payments go out.  So if you moved, you may not have gotten a check.  Or it might have been lost.  Or it might have been mis-delivered.  Whatever the case, if you feel you should have gotten a check, contact SIMPLURIS immediately.  

Here is the contact case managers’ information for Simpluris:

Lindsay Kline, Project Manager, 714-640-5636, email at lkine@simpluris.com, or Daniela Jimenez, Assistant Case Manager, 714-640-5617, email at djimenez@simpluris.com.

Thanks again for helping us bring this case to this point.  If you have any questions or comments about this case or your employment, whether at First Student or anywhere else, please feel free to call us at 626-795-0205 or 818-547-5200.  Or you can email us at tom@falveylaw.com.  Also, be sure to see other cases we handle at our website, falveylaw.com.

Thanks very much.

Update: April 1, 2020 – Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement Granted – Be Alert if You’re a Class Member!

Great News Hits the Road!!!! Our class action brought on behalf of drivers employed by First Student in the Fresno area was granted final approval on April 3, 2020.  

We are grateful to all of those of you who called and emailed us and helped us prepare our case. Our being able to talk with many of you really helped us achieve a very good result.  

It’s always a pleasure when we can report this outcome and we’re glad we were able to obtain this result after more than five years’ time, i.e., since it was filed in 2015, nearly five years ago.

If you have any questions or comments, in regard to your job, wherever you work, please let us know.  Have you been fired, told your job no longer existed when it does, or accused of something to force you out?  If this has happened to you, your family or any of your friends, please contact us.

You can call 818-547-5200 or 626-795-0205.  

Or email us at tom@falveylaw.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about this case – or any other matter.

Thanks very much.

Update: December 1, 2019 – Motion for Preliminary Approval GRANTED!

Yes!!  The court has granted our motion for preliminary approval of settlement of this case.

Please be patient, however.  The hearing on the Motion for FINAL Approval will not take place until next year, as shown on the attached order of the Court.

The class consists of non-exempt employees who worked as non-exempt (hourly) drivers for First Student at its Fresno location any from October 28, 2014 to November 27, 2016. If you believe you are a member of this class you should be getting a notice of the terms of the settlement sometime this month (January, 2020) from Simpluris.  Watch for it!  

If you don’t receive such a notice, it might mean your notice was misaddressed, or lost in the mail, or for some reason you weren’t included in the mailing.

If that happens, you must contact Lindsay Kline, Project Manager for Simpluris, the company sending out the class notices, at 714-640-5635.

In addition, feel free to call our office at either 626.795.0205 or 818-547-5200, or email us at tom@falveylaw.com.  

Likewise if you know of anyone else who should be getting a notice, but might have moved, let them (and us) know, or have them call us and we’ll be glad to help.

Thanks very much.  We hope this is of assistance.

Update: Sept. 8, 2019 – GOOD NEWS MAY BE COMING OUT SOON

For all of you who have been calling and emailing about this case, PLEASE KEEP DOING SO!

Your help and providing us information and documents on this case have really moved it forward.

HAVE YOU MOVED?  If this case settles and FIRST STUDENT doesn’t have a correct address for you, you might not be able to participate.  We know of some of you, but it might help you and it may well help our case for you to contact us.

ALSO –  Has anything happened to you or anyone else there for complaining about your pay or breaks or working conditions?  Let us know!

Thanks again.  We hope to hear from you or anyone else who worked there whenever you have a chance.

And if you have any other legal questions, please feel free to call 626-795-0205 or email me at tom@falveylaw.com.

Update: Feb. 2, 2019 – Court of Appeal Rules In Our Favor!!!!!!

The court of appeals agreed with our position in our appeal and held in our favor!  We’ll continue to keep you posted of events in that case, but we still need your help.

Did you drive for First Student out of the Fresno Yard – going back to October of 2011?   Depending upon further rulings from the court, you may be entitled to damages, pending the outcome of this case.  

We would be very grateful, if you have them, if you would forward us copies of your earnings statements you received from First Student while working there, from the period of 2011 to the present time.

Do yourself a favor if you’re a potential class member, or you have any questions about your employment.  Whether you work for First Student now or in the past, please contact us.

If you have any questions or comments about that case, please email us at Tom@falveylaw.com or call us at either 818-547-5200 or 626-795-0205.  

And of course if you are now working for someone else, and have questions that employment, we’ll welcome your call.  Whether it’s about your boss or the company you work for or have worked for in the past, get hold of us for that reason as well.

Thanks very much.  We’d be glad to hear from you.

Update: Oct. 1, 2018 – Oral Argument for the Appeal in this Case is Scheduled for December 21st

At long last, our appeal in regard to this case will be argued in San Francisco just before Christmas.

We’re certainly hopeful that the court of appeals will uphold our position, and we’ll continue to keep you posted of events in that case.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about that case, reach out to us.  Do that especially if you’re a potential class member, or you have any questions about your employment, whether you work for First Student now or in the past, please contact us.

And of course if you are now working for another employer, and have questions about your boss or the company you work for or have worked for in the past, get hold of us for that reason as well.

Please email us at tom@falveylaw.com or call us at 626-795-0205 or 818-547-5200.

Thanks very much.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Update: Dec. 10, 2017 – Notice of Appeal Filed re: Denial of Motion for Class Certification

Unfortunately, the court denied our Motion for Class Certification, so we are now proceeding with an appeal to seek a reversal of that decision.  It takes a while to get an appeal going.  We have to get a complete copy of all the documents filed with the court of appeal, along with any transcripts which we want the court to be able to review.  

While there is no guarantee that we will be successful, we would not be taking this action if we didn’t believe in the validity of our case.  We expect to file our opening brief sometime early next year.

If you have any questions or comments about your employment, either with First Student or any other employer, please feel free to call us.

Thanks very much for your patience.

Case Filed: Oct. 28, 2015 – Plaintiff’s Allegations

On October 28, 2015 we filed a proposed class-action lawsuit for employees Delores Humes and Diane Abella (“Plaintiffs”) against First Student, Inc. on behalf of non-exempt employees who worked as non-exempt (hourly) drivers for First Student at its Fresno location any time since November 19, 2007. The case is filed in Fresno County Superior Court as  Case No. 15 CE CG 03352.

In their lawsuit, filed on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs contend that First Student did not comply with the requirements under California law for payment of wages. If successful, a class action allows former and current employees to receive back wages that are owed to them.

First Student denies the claims in their entirety and believes that it has followed California law with respect to the payment of wages to its employees. The court has not yet ruled on any of Plaintiff’s allegations or determined whether the case is appropriate for class action status.

Employees often don’t know about time for which they should be paid.  The way we prove the fact of the unpaid wages is both through both drivers’ recollection and statements, and their records.  

You can help.  For example, you may have documents relating to your job there, such as copies of checks, schedules, pictures of buses or yards or of your training requirements or materials, forms you had to sign, manuals, emails, letters, time-sheets, or instructions about training, etc.  If you could provide those to us, it might help us and others to see them.

So if you are or were a First Student employee working in California since at any Fresno location since September 17, 2007, we would like to speak with you.  Please call us at 818-547-5200.  You may also mail us at 550 North Brand Blvd., Suite 1500, Glendale, California 91203.

Similarly, we’ll be glad to receive any email with any of your questions, comments or suggestions.  You can email us at tom@falveylaw.com.

Your call or email might go a long way toward helping these pharmacists, and thus the public at large.  

Thanks for all the help you can send us.