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1 TIMOTHY J. LONG (STATE BAR NO. 137591)
tjlong@OCTick.com ^ 1 p p "s^-
2 NICHOLAS J. HORTON (STATE BAR NO. 289417) ENDORSED
nhorton@orrick.com
3 ORRICK, HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE LLP
•
400 Capitol MaU, Suite 3000 DEC 2 1 2018
4 Sacramento, CA 95814-4497
Telephone: +1 916 447 9200
5 Facsunile: +1 916 329 4900 By T. Elder
Deputy Clerk
6
Attomeys for Defendant
7 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC.
8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
9
COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO
10
ANDREA SPEARS, an individual, on behalf Consolidated Case No. 34-2017-00210560-
11 of herself and on behalf of all persons similarly CU-OE-GDS
situated.
12 Plaintiff, DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION AS TO WHY
13 SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT
PROCEED AS A PAGA
14 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a REPRESENTATIVE ACTION
Califomia Corporation; and Does 1 through 50,
15 mclusive. Date: April 11,2019
Time: 10:00 a.m.
16 Defendants. Dept.: 35
Judge: Hon. Alan G. Perkins
17
Complaint Filed: AprU 5,2017
18 FAC Filed: June 29,2017
19
20 TOMAS R. ARANA, on behalf of himself, all Comiplaint Filed: August 1,2017
others similarly situated, ConsoUdated Complaint Filed: Dec. 21,2017
21
Plaintiff,
22
V.
23
HEALTH OF CALIFORNIA, D^C, a
24 Califomia corporation; and DOES 1-50,
CO 25 inclusive.
Defendant.
< 26
z 27
28
QC DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
o AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION
1 I, Diane C. Rodes, declare as foUows:
2 1. I am the Director of Human Resources for Health Net, Inc. ("HNI"). I have been
r
3 employed in this position since 2000. As part of my job duties, I am famUiar wdth the human
4 resources functions of Health Net of Califomia, Inc. ("HNCA"), a subsidiary of HNI. AU of the
5 information contained in this declaration is based upon my personal knowledge or, where context
6 indicates, review ofthe records described herein. If called and swom as a witness, I could and
7 would competentiy testify to the niatters in this declaration.
8 2. HNCA operates as a health maintenance organization C'HMO") in Califomia and
9 provides health insurance products such as commercial HMO plans and healthcare service plans.
10 HNCA serves customers—refcCTed tp as members—over the telephone out of its call centers in
11 Rancho Cordova and Woodland HUls, California.
12 3. From approximately September 15,2014, to October 3,2016, Plaintiff Andrea
13 Spears was employed by HNCA as a non-exempt Customer Service Representative in Rancho
14 Cordova.
15 4. Between January 1,2001, and December 31,2016, eUgible HNCA employees who
16 elected to participate ("Participants") in the Health Net, Inc. Associate Benefits Program (the
17 "Plan") received "Flex Dollars" pursuant to the terms of the Plan to help pay for the cost of
18 medical and dental insurance coverage. Flex Dollars received were reflected m Participants'
19 paychecks.
20 5. Ms. Spears was .a Participant during her employment .with HNCA. When a
21 Participant such as Ms. Spears waived medical and/or dental coverage, HNCA provided a cash
22 benefit pursuant to the terms of die Plan. This cash benefit was reflected as a monetary line item
23 in the "Eamings" section of the Participant's wage statement.
24 6. Ms. Spears waived medical coverage during her employment with HNCA. Thus,
25 for each pay period, she received a cash benefit of $20.00 for her waiver of medical coverage
26 under the Plan. This cash benefit was coded as "MedFbiWave" on her wage statement.
27 7. The Flex DoUars, including the cash benefits at issue in this lawsuit, Ms. Spears
28 and all other Plan Participants received under the Plan were not tied to performance at work or
-2- .
DECLARATION OF DL\NE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION
1 performance goals, nor were these cash benefits considered a bonus. As I stated during my
2 deposition, to be eUgible to receive Flex DoUars under the Plan (including the cash benefit
3 received by Ms. Spears), a person simply had to be an eligible employee as defined ui the Plan
4 under the term Eligible Associate. As also discussed in my deposition. Eligible Associate means
5 "an Associate who is classified by his or her Employer as a regular Associate, and who is
6 scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week." Eligible Associates who participated in the Plan
7 received Flex Dollars. The exact amount of Flex Dollars received was based on the number and
8 type of optional benefits selected by the employee, the employee's geographic location, and the
9 number of dependent's the employee covered.
10 8. I understand that Ms. Spears seeks to bring a representative action on behalf of all
11 non-exempt employees of HNCA in California, as well as all persons employed by any staffing
12 agencies and/or any other third parties in hourly or non-exempt positions in California, employed
13 on or after April 5,2016.
14 9. I am mformed and believe, between April 5,2016, and August 2018,3,701 people
15 worked as non-exempt employees for HNCA in Califomia. I am further mformed an beUeve that
16 during this time period, these 3,701 employees worked at a total of 26 locations, including the
17 Woodland Hills call center and the Rancho Cordova call center, and that these 3,701 employees
18 had approximately 352 different jobtitlesduring thistimeperiod and worked under
19 approximately 531 different supervisors.
20 10. ThejobdutiesofHNCA'snon-exemptemployees vary widelyfromjobtitieto job
21 title, and even within jobtities.Likewise, HNCA's approximately 38 caU center departments
22 provide different services, and the responsibilities of employees in those departments vary
23 dependmg on the members they serve.
24 11. HNCA's policies have always been to require that aU non-exempt
25 employees accurately enter their time, including thetimethey commenced work and thetimethey
26 stopped work for the day, as well their meal periods. For example, HNCA's "Associate Policy:
27 Timekeeping," which was in effectfromNovember 15,2012, to December 31,2016, informs
28 employees that it is their responsibility to accurately record the actualtimethey work. A tme and
-3- •
DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION
1 coCTect copy ofHNCA's "Associate Policy: Timekeeping" is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
2 12. Likewise, HNCA's poUcies have always been to permit employees to take a 30-
3 minute meal period for every five hours of work, and to permit employees to take a 15-minute
4 rest period for every four hours worked, or majorfractionthereof For example, the "Associate
5 PoUcy: Working Hours and Pay Practices," which was in effectfromMay 12,2015, to December
6 31,2016, explains that Califomia employees must be provided an opportunity for a meal period
7 prior to working more than five hours. A tme and coCTect copy ofHNCA's "Associate Policy;
8 Working Hours and Pay Practices" is attached hereto as Exliibit B.
9 13. HNCA communicated these poUcies to employees through the Associate PoUcies.
10 AdditionaUy, from time to time, emails are sent to employees to ensure employees understood
11 HNCA's policies. For example, on January 7,2016, an email was sent to all Customer Service
12 Representatives in California, providing a written description of HNCA's meal and rest break
13 policies. A tme and correct copy of this email is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
14 14. On January 1,2017, HNCA's timekeeping system changed from
15 PeopleSoft to EMPCenter. PeopleSofl was an electronic system, but only allowed for manual
16 entries to be typed mto the appropriate fields. The EMPCenter thnekeeping system is a web-
17 based system that permits employees to log then- time with the click of a button; however,
18 EMPCenter also permits manual entries to be typed into the system. The PeopleSoft and
19 EMPCenter timekeeping systems have always permitted employees to manually enter their start
20 and stop tunes.
21 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of CaUfomia that the
22 foregoing is tme and correct.
23 Executed this 21 st day of December, 2018, in Rancho Cordova, Califomia.
24
25
26
27 I Diane C. Rodes
28
• . -4-
DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION
EXHIBITA
Lodged Conditionally Under Seal
EXHIBIT B
Lodged Conditionally Under Seal
EXHIBIT C
Lodged Conditionally Under Seal
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1 TIMOTHY J. LONG (STATE BAR NO. 137591) tjlong@OCTick.com ^ 1 p p "s^- 2 NICHOLAS J. HORTON (STATE BAR NO. 289417) ENDORSED nhorton@orrick.com 3 ORRICK, HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE LLP • 400 Capitol MaU, Suite 3000 DEC 2 1 2018 4 Sacramento, CA 95814-4497 Telephone: +1 916 447 9200 5 Facsunile: +1 916 329 4900 By T. Elder Deputy Clerk 6 Attomeys for Defendant 7 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC. 8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 9 COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO 10 ANDREA SPEARS, an individual, on behalf Consolidated Case No. 34-2017-00210560- 11 of herself and on behalf of all persons similarly CU-OE-GDS situated. 12 Plaintiff, DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION AS TO WHY 13 SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA 14 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a REPRESENTATIVE ACTION Califomia Corporation; and Does 1 through 50, 15 mclusive. Date: April 11,2019 Time: 10:00 a.m. 16 Defendants. Dept.: 35 Judge: Hon. Alan G. Perkins 17 Complaint Filed: AprU 5,2017 18 FAC Filed: June 29,2017 19 20 TOMAS R. ARANA, on behalf of himself, all Comiplaint Filed: August 1,2017 others similarly situated, ConsoUdated Complaint Filed: Dec. 21,2017 21 Plaintiff, 22 V. 23 HEALTH OF CALIFORNIA, D^C, a 24 Califomia corporation; and DOES 1-50, CO 25 inclusive. Defendant. < 26 z 27 28 QC DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION o AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION 1 I, Diane C. Rodes, declare as foUows: 2 1. I am the Director of Human Resources for Health Net, Inc. ("HNI"). I have been r 3 employed in this position since 2000. As part of my job duties, I am famUiar wdth the human 4 resources functions of Health Net of Califomia, Inc. ("HNCA"), a subsidiary of HNI. AU of the 5 information contained in this declaration is based upon my personal knowledge or, where context 6 indicates, review ofthe records described herein. If called and swom as a witness, I could and 7 would competentiy testify to the niatters in this declaration. 8 2. HNCA operates as a health maintenance organization C'HMO") in Califomia and 9 provides health insurance products such as commercial HMO plans and healthcare service plans. 10 HNCA serves customers—refcCTed tp as members—over the telephone out of its call centers in 11 Rancho Cordova and Woodland HUls, California. 12 3. From approximately September 15,2014, to October 3,2016, Plaintiff Andrea 13 Spears was employed by HNCA as a non-exempt Customer Service Representative in Rancho 14 Cordova. 15 4. Between January 1,2001, and December 31,2016, eUgible HNCA employees who 16 elected to participate ("Participants") in the Health Net, Inc. Associate Benefits Program (the 17 "Plan") received "Flex Dollars" pursuant to the terms of the Plan to help pay for the cost of 18 medical and dental insurance coverage. Flex Dollars received were reflected m Participants' 19 paychecks. 20 5. Ms. Spears was .a Participant during her employment .with HNCA. When a 21 Participant such as Ms. Spears waived medical and/or dental coverage, HNCA provided a cash 22 benefit pursuant to the terms of die Plan. This cash benefit was reflected as a monetary line item 23 in the "Eamings" section of the Participant's wage statement. 24 6. Ms. Spears waived medical coverage during her employment with HNCA. Thus, 25 for each pay period, she received a cash benefit of $20.00 for her waiver of medical coverage 26 under the Plan. This cash benefit was coded as "MedFbiWave" on her wage statement. 27 7. The Flex DoUars, including the cash benefits at issue in this lawsuit, Ms. Spears 28 and all other Plan Participants received under the Plan were not tied to performance at work or -2- . DECLARATION OF DL\NE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION 1 performance goals, nor were these cash benefits considered a bonus. As I stated during my 2 deposition, to be eUgible to receive Flex DoUars under the Plan (including the cash benefit 3 received by Ms. Spears), a person simply had to be an eligible employee as defined ui the Plan 4 under the term Eligible Associate. As also discussed in my deposition. Eligible Associate means 5 "an Associate who is classified by his or her Employer as a regular Associate, and who is 6 scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week." Eligible Associates who participated in the Plan 7 received Flex Dollars. The exact amount of Flex Dollars received was based on the number and 8 type of optional benefits selected by the employee, the employee's geographic location, and the 9 number of dependent's the employee covered. 10 8. I understand that Ms. Spears seeks to bring a representative action on behalf of all 11 non-exempt employees of HNCA in California, as well as all persons employed by any staffing 12 agencies and/or any other third parties in hourly or non-exempt positions in California, employed 13 on or after April 5,2016. 14 9. I am mformed and believe, between April 5,2016, and August 2018,3,701 people 15 worked as non-exempt employees for HNCA in Califomia. I am further mformed an beUeve that 16 during this time period, these 3,701 employees worked at a total of 26 locations, including the 17 Woodland Hills call center and the Rancho Cordova call center, and that these 3,701 employees 18 had approximately 352 different jobtitlesduring thistimeperiod and worked under 19 approximately 531 different supervisors. 20 10. ThejobdutiesofHNCA'snon-exemptemployees vary widelyfromjobtitieto job 21 title, and even within jobtities.Likewise, HNCA's approximately 38 caU center departments 22 provide different services, and the responsibilities of employees in those departments vary 23 dependmg on the members they serve. 24 11. HNCA's policies have always been to require that aU non-exempt 25 employees accurately enter their time, including thetimethey commenced work and thetimethey 26 stopped work for the day, as well their meal periods. For example, HNCA's "Associate Policy: 27 Timekeeping," which was in effectfromNovember 15,2012, to December 31,2016, informs 28 employees that it is their responsibility to accurately record the actualtimethey work. A tme and -3- • DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION 1 coCTect copy ofHNCA's "Associate Policy: Timekeeping" is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 2 12. Likewise, HNCA's poUcies have always been to permit employees to take a 30- 3 minute meal period for every five hours of work, and to permit employees to take a 15-minute 4 rest period for every four hours worked, or majorfractionthereof For example, the "Associate 5 PoUcy: Working Hours and Pay Practices," which was in effectfromMay 12,2015, to December 6 31,2016, explains that Califomia employees must be provided an opportunity for a meal period 7 prior to working more than five hours. A tme and coCTect copy ofHNCA's "Associate Policy; 8 Working Hours and Pay Practices" is attached hereto as Exliibit B. 9 13. HNCA communicated these poUcies to employees through the Associate PoUcies. 10 AdditionaUy, from time to time, emails are sent to employees to ensure employees understood 11 HNCA's policies. For example, on January 7,2016, an email was sent to all Customer Service 12 Representatives in California, providing a written description of HNCA's meal and rest break 13 policies. A tme and correct copy of this email is attached hereto as Exhibit C. 14 14. On January 1,2017, HNCA's timekeeping system changed from 15 PeopleSoft to EMPCenter. PeopleSofl was an electronic system, but only allowed for manual 16 entries to be typed mto the appropriate fields. The EMPCenter thnekeeping system is a web- 17 based system that permits employees to log then- time with the click of a button; however, 18 EMPCenter also permits manual entries to be typed into the system. The PeopleSoft and 19 EMPCenter timekeeping systems have always permitted employees to manually enter their start 20 and stop tunes. 21 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of CaUfomia that the 22 foregoing is tme and correct. 23 Executed this 21 st day of December, 2018, in Rancho Cordova, Califomia. 24 25 26 27 I Diane C. Rodes 28 • . -4- DECLARATION OF DIANE RODES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION AS TO WHY SPEARS' CASE SHOULD NOT PROCEED AS A PAGA REPRESENTATIVE ACTION EXHIBITA Lodged Conditionally Under Seal EXHIBIT B Lodged Conditionally Under Seal EXHIBIT C Lodged Conditionally Under Seal