A judge in San Diego has granted a summary judgment motion to SkyWest Airlines Inc. in the first federal ruling to address whether California's strict wage and hour laws are pre-empted by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.
Tiffany Blackwell, who worked at SkyWest's Palm Springs, Calif., station from November 2002 to December 2004, filed a lawsuit claiming that she received no meal breaks, or meal breaks of less than 30 minutes, or late meal breaks, in violation of California law. She also claimed that she "rarely worked a single day" when she received all the rest breaks required.

In the Dec. 3 ruling, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California said that Blackwell's collective bargaining agreement with SkyWest under the Railway Labor Act pre-empted her claims for unpaid overtime wages, meal and rest periods. The judge also found that the Airline Deregulation Act prohibited the state claims from being asserted.

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