A former Netflix Animation worker has accused the company and a staffing agency in a proposed class action and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) suit in California state court of denying meal and rest breaks, requiring unpaid off-the-clock work, and failing to pay minimum and overtime wages.
According to Law360, Phillip Barry Wangenheim alleges Netflix Animation LLC and Cypress HCM Inc. violated multiple provisions of the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders. “Defendants’ policies and practices are to deny earned wages, including premium and overtime pay,” Wangenheim said. “Defendants do not provide their employees with legally compliant meal periods and rest breaks, nor premium pay in lieu thereof.”
Wangenheim, who worked as a post engineer from November 2024 through March 2025 in Los Angeles, claims workers routinely took late or interrupted meal breaks and were required to remain on duty performing work during those periods without receiving premium compensation. And employees regularly worked more than 10 hours without receiving a second meal period.
Wangenheim further claims the defendants failed to pay workers at time-and-a-half their regular rate for hours worked beyond eight in a day or 40 in a week, and failed to pay double time for hours worked beyond 12 in a day or on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek.
The companies also failed to provide accurate wage statements and did not reimburse workers for necessary business expenses, including personal cellphone use required for work. Neither did defendants pay all final wages owed at the time of separation, potentially triggering waiting-time penalties of up to 30 days of continued wages, according to the lawsuit.
Wangenheim seeks to represent a class of about 200 current and former hourly, nonexempt California employees who worked for the defendants during the four years preceding the complaint. Wangenheim also seeks civil penalties under California’s Private Attorneys General Act.
The case is Wangenheim v. Netflix Animation LLC et al., case number 26STCV14625, filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.
SKIMS Faces Similar Claims
A separate class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court targets SKIMS Retail LLC and related entities, the shapewear company co-founded by Kim Kardashian and entrepreneur Jens Grede.
Plaintiff David Knight alleges that SKIMS failed to provide legally compliant meal and rest periods and did not fully compensate employees for all hours worked. The complaint also claims the company improperly excluded certain forms of compensation—including bonuses, commissions and shift differentials—when calculating overtime rates.
Knight further alleges inaccurate wage statements, inadequate payroll records, unreimbursed business expenses and failures to timely pay all wages due when employment ended. The lawsuit seeks damages, penalties, restitution, attorneys’ fees and class certification.
SKIMS has strongly denied the allegations.
In a statement reported by media outlets, a company representative described the lawsuit as a “boilerplate filing” and stated that SKIMS remains committed to compliance with California wage-and-hour laws. The company indicated it intends to contest the claims rather than pursue a quick settlement. While Kardashian is closely associated with the brand, she is not personally named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Gap and Banana Republic Reach Settlement
Unlike the Netflix and SKIMS cases, another California wage-and-hour dispute has already reached resolution.
Banana Republic LLC and The Gap Inc. agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle a class action alleging numerous California labor law violations. The lawsuit included claims involving unpaid wages, missed meal and rest breaks, inaccurate wage statements, unreimbursed expenses, late wage payments and sick pay violations.
The settlement covers non-exempt retail store employees who worked for Banana Republic or Gap in California between Oct. 27, 2022, and July 4, 2025. Eligible workers may receive compensation from the settlement fund.
The three cases underscore a continual challenge to California employers. Meal and rest break compliance, overtime calculations, and other California labor law violations remain frequent targets of class action and PAGA litigation.
Even relatively routine payroll or scheduling practices can become expensive legal disputes when applied across large hourly workforces. Employers found liable for unpaid overtime may face not only back-pay awards but also penalties, interest, attorneys’ fees, and class-action damages that can escalate into multimillion-dollar settlements.
The lesson for employers is clear: unpaid overtime and meal-break violations often cost far more in court than they would have cost to prevent in the workplace.
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