SAN FRANCISCO Journalists at Southern California’s Chinese Daily News made law seven years ago when a trial judge ruled they were non-exempt employees who could bring a class action for unpaid overtime and missed meal breaks. Along with the newspaper’s sales staff, truck drivers and other employees, the 200-member class recovered about $9 million in damages and attorneys fees.
But the world of class actions has turned upside down since then, and in the wake of major rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court in the last 18 months, it sounds like the journalists may be out of luck.
