Break Time Breakdown: Two More California Lawsuits

Alameda, CATwo more rest and meal break lawsuits and other California labor code violations have been filed in California courts, resulting in missed wages for employees at Blizzard Entertainment and 3M Company. Both cases demonstrate California’s ongoing enforcement of worker protection laws, particularly regarding mandatory meal and rest breaks for non-exempt employees.

Blizzard Entertainment Lawsuit

The complaint against Blizzard Entertainment filed in late July is proceeding as a class action. Plaintiff Jerome Bonoan was employed by Blizzard from 2010 until early this year as anon-exempt employee, paid on an hourly basis, and entitled to the legally required meal and rest periods and payment of minimum and overtime wages due for all time worked. According to court documents, Bonoan and other California class members were often required to work more than five hours without a meal break. As well, employees were often not provided with a second off-duty meal break when they were required to work 10 hours.

According to the lawsuit, along with failure to provide rest and meal breaks, Blizzard

failed to pay minimum wages,

failed to pay overtime wages,

failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements,

failed to reimburse for required expenses,

failed to pay sick wages,

failed to provide wages when due,

All of the above violations are “listed in the California Labor Code Sections and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct,” states the lawsuit. Further, Bonaon accuses Blizzard of denying his request for accommodations due to personal health reasons. As well, Blizzard allegedly fabricated performance and conduct issues about Bonaon, denied him employment opportunities, privileges, and wages under the Labor Code, and he was plagued with ongoing work pressures, obligations, and mistreatment by his supervisors as a result of his willingness to raise formal complaints described in the lawsuit.

Case No. 25CV133520, is currently pending in the Alameda County Superior Court of the State of California.

3M Company Lawsuit

The 3M lawsuit was filed in late August 2025. According to a law firm’s press release and court documents, 3M employees were allegedly required from time to time to perform work for more than five hours during some shifts without receiving a meal break. In California, employers are required to provide employees with off-duty rest periods, which the California Supreme Court defined as time during which an employee is relieved from all work–related duties and free from employer control.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Mario Hernandez worked at 3M from June 2023 to October 18, 2024. He is seeking only to recover PAGA civil penalties on behalf of all current and former aggrieved employees that worked for 3M. Hernandez claims he was interrupted from time to time by work assignments while clocked out for what should have been his off-duty meal break. As a result, Hernandez and other aggrieved workers are paid less than they would have been paid had they been paid for actual recorded time rather than “rounded” time. In other words, they forfeit minimum wage, overtime wage compensation, and off-duty meal breaks.

The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who does so as the proxy or agent of the state’s labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is to create a means of “deputizing” citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code, and not to recover damages or restitution.

Case No. CVRI2504145 was filed in Riverside County Superior Court.