In a recent development, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit partially overturned and sustained the denial of class certification in a lawsuit against Kirkland’s Stores. The suit alleges that the company’s rest break and bag check policies are unlawful.
The Circuit Court reversed a decision made by U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb of the Central District of California that refused the request for class certification pertaining to a rest break claim put forward by the plaintiff, Ariana Miles. The court found the policy to be consistently implemented across the stores. Details of the case reveal that, in contrast to the rest break policy – which seemed to have been uniformly executed barring a few isolated instances – the evidence suggests that Kirkland’s bag check policy implementation was inconsistent.
Nevertheless, the panel sustained the denial regarding class certification for the bag check claim since it concluded that the policy was not uniformly executed. This decision underscores the complex legal issues surrounding company policies and their implementation across different outlets.