April 26, 2024
Christina Espinoza v. East West Bank
Christina Espinoza v. East West Bank, California Superior Court Case No. BC502166 (Los Angeles County) was a proposed wage and hour class action that was filed in 2013. The plaintiff alleged that she and assistant branch managers were misclassified as salary-exempt employees. Econ One and Dr. Brian Kriegler were retained by East West Bank (i) to review/analyze a sample of putative class members’ declarations and deposition transcripts, and (ii) to opine on plaintiff’s experts’ proposed statistical and surveying methodologies.
Dr. Kriegler provided his opinions via a declaration that was submitted with East West Bank’s opposition to plaintiff’s class certification motion. Based on the analysis of said declarations and deposition transcripts, Dr. Kriegler summarized the frequency and duration of job tasks as stated by declarants/deponents. Additionally, he concluded that some of the observed patterns and variation among these people likely would apply to eventual survey evidence and/or representative testimony, which plaintiff’s experts proposed collecting. The trial court denied plaintiff’s motion for class certification. Ultimately, the California Court of Appeal cited Dr. Kriegler’s declaration and affirmed the denial of class certification.