Betancourt v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC says you still cannot get fees in a wage and hour case seeking meal and rest break premiums

Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc., 53 Cal. 4th 1244 (2012) said that actions for failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks are not actions for non-payment of wages under Labor Code § 218.5. In Betancourt v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC (May 21, 2020), the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Eight) says the same thing. There is a bit of discussion about what “predicate” violation was alleged (the plaintiff arguing that it was faulty record-keeping), but the Court was not persuaded to deviate from a growing list of decisions considering how to treat premium pay “penalties” and derivative claims under sections 203 and 226.