Rancho Santa Fe attorney obtains a $26 million judgment against City of Los Angeles

Longtime Rancho Santa Fe resident Michael D. Myers obtained a $26 million judgment against the City of Los Angeles for violations of labor laws on behalf of 1,100 sanitation truck drivers.

“This case is unusual only because of the length of time it took and the amount of people involved” Myers said. “We are very satisfied with the final result of litigation which started in 2006. The roads will be safer as we will not have hungry and exhausted truck drivers falling asleep at the wheel right next to your car while driving on the freeway. This was a very complicated matter which was taken by the City on several occasions to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.”

In addition to paying back wages and interest to the drivers, the City of Los Angeles is permanently enjoined from enforcing any rules that would prohibit sanitation drivers from sleeping while on meal breaks and enforcing any rules relating to the number of drivers who may take rest periods together.

Myers moved to Rancho Santa Fe from the Hollywood Hills in 1994, with his wife Lili and their children Monique and Alexander.