Decertified Class Ordered Recertified.

Allstate Insurance Company changed the classification of its auto field adjusters from salaried employees to hourly employees in response to litigation challenging their misclassification as employees exempt from protection of overtime wage laws. After the change, Allstate presumed that an adjuster’s workday begins with the first appointment as set by the Work Force Management System. Plaintiff filed a class action alleging Allstate had a policy of not compensating adjusters for work performed before they arrived at their first vehicle inspection of the day or for work performed after completing the last inspection of the day. The class was certified. Several months later, the United States Supreme Court issued Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes (2011) 131 S.Ct. 2541, [180 L.Ed.2d 374],  http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/10-277.pdf holding that 1.5 million claimants who alleged gender discrimination had no unifying theory holding together “literally millions of employment decisions.” After Dukes, the trial court in the present matter decertified the class. The appellate court issued a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order decertifying the class and ordering it to recertify it because plaintiffs here allege a company-wide policy of discouraging and limiting overtime.  (Williams v. Sup. Ct. (Allstate Insurance Company) (Cal.App. Second Dist., Div. 8; December 6, 2013) (As mod. Dec. 24, 2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 1353. http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B244043M.PDF