1017-00004 · Entities. Aurelius Global Media Group · Class Certification

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES — CENTRAL DISTRICT

DECLARATION OF LORRAINE OKAFOR

I, Lorraine Okafor, declare as follows:

1. My name is Lorraine Okafor. I am the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Aurelius Media Americas Inc. ("AMA" or the "Company"). I have held this position since June 2019. Prior to joining AMA, I served in human resources leadership roles in the entertainment industry for over fifteen (15) years, including positions of increasing responsibility at major production companies and studios. I make this declaration based on my personal knowledge and upon my review of AMA's business records, which are maintained in the ordinary course of AMA's regularly conducted business. If called as a witness, I could and would competently testify to the matters stated herein.

2. AMA is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (Delaware Division of Corporations File No. 5284731), and is qualified to transact business in the State of California. AMA's principal office is located at 8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, California 90069. AMA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aurelius Global Media Group PLC ("AGMG"), a public limited company organized under the laws of England and Wales (Companies House Registration No. 08412667), with its registered office and principal place of business located at 34 Kingsway, London WC2B 6EX, United Kingdom. AGMG is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGMG." For fiscal year 2022, AMA generated approximately $687.4 million in revenue from its United States operations. AMA's President is Jonathan Mercer, who reports to AGMG's Chief Executive Officer in London. AMA is engaged in the production and distribution of entertainment programming across multiple formats, including unscripted television, scripted development, live event production, digital content, and e-commerce programming.

3. AMA employs approximately 3,200 employees in the United States, of whom approximately 2,400 are based in California. During the putative class period alleged in this action — November 1, 2018 through the date of preliminary approval of any class settlement — approximately 1,850 individuals were or had been classified as non-exempt, hourly employees of AMA in California at some point during that period. These non-exempt employees work across seven (7) production facilities in California and are assigned to fourteen (14) distinct show units. All fourteen show units operate under Industrial Welfare Commission ("IWC") Wage Order No. 12-2001 (Motion Picture Industry), as amended. The composition of AMA's workforce fluctuates over time due to the project-based nature of entertainment production, with some employees engaged on a seasonal or per-project basis. As a result, the precise number of non-exempt, hourly employees at any given point during the class period varied.

4. AMA operates the following seven (7) production facilities in California, each of which serves a distinct operational function within the Company's overall business:

(a) Facility 1 — 8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, California 90069. This facility serves as AMA's corporate headquarters and also houses the Company's primary post-production operations, including editing suites, color correction bays, and audio mixing rooms.

(b) Facility 2 — 4024 Penmark Strategy Partners Avenue, Studio City, California 91604. This facility houses Stage A and Stage B, which are AMA's principal production stages for unscripted programming. The majority of AMA's studio-based unscripted shows are filmed at this location.

(c) Facility 3 — 15301 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Sherman Oaks, California 91403. This facility is dedicated to digital content production, including short-form and long-form programming produced for streaming platforms and social media distribution channels.

(d) Facility 4 — 3800 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California 91505. This facility serves as the base of operations for AMA's live events division and field production units. Production crews for field-based shows are coordinated from this location, although the actual filming takes place at various remote locations throughout California and other states.

(e) Facility 5 — 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, California 90028. This facility is dedicated primarily to scripted development, including writers' rooms, development offices, and associated production support operations.

(f) Facility 6 — 2120 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90404. This facility houses AMA's e-commerce studio operations, which produce live and pre-recorded shopping and product demonstration programming for television and digital distribution.

(g) Facility 7 — 888 N. Sepulveda Boulevard, El Segundo, California 90245. This facility serves as AMA's post-production annex, providing overflow editing, visual effects, and finishing capacity to supplement the post-production operations at Facility 1.

Each facility has its own on-site management team, operational requirements, and production schedules, as described in greater detail below.

5. AMA maintains a written Meal and Rest Break Policy (the "Policy"), which was most recently revised in January 2019. The Policy is distributed to all non-exempt employees at the time of hire as part of the Company's new-hire onboarding materials, and is available at all times on AMA's internal human resources portal, which is accessible to all employees via desktop and mobile devices. The substantive provisions of the Policy are also set forth in AMA's Employee Handbook, which was most recently revised in March 2021. The relevant sections of the Employee Handbook are Section 4.3 (Meal Periods), Section 4.4 (Rest Periods), and Section 4.7 (Timekeeping). With respect to meal periods, the Policy provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

(a) All non-exempt employees are entitled to a thirty (30) minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal period for any work shift that exceeds five (5) hours. This provision is consistent with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and California Labor Code Section 512.

(b) A second thirty (30) minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal period is provided for any work shift that exceeds ten (10) hours. An employee may waive the second meal period only if the total hours worked do not exceed twelve (12) hours and the first meal period was not waived, consistent with California Labor Code Section 512(a).

(c) Employees are instructed to notify their supervisor immediately if they are unable to take a meal or rest break for any reason, so that appropriate remedial measures can be taken, including, where applicable, the payment of a meal or rest period premium.

True and correct copies of the relevant sections of the AMA Employee Handbook (March 2021 revision) and the Meal and Rest Break Policy (January 2019 revision) are attached to the concurrently filed Declaration of Counsel as Exhibits D and E, respectively.

6. With respect to rest periods, the Policy provides that all non-exempt employees are entitled to a net ten (10) minute paid rest period for every four (4) hours worked, or major fraction thereof. The Policy further provides that rest periods should, insofar as practicable, be scheduled in the middle of each work period. Employees working shifts exceeding ten (10) hours are entitled to a third rest period. Because rest periods are paid time, they are generally not separately tracked in AMA's timekeeping system. This practice is consistent with prevailing industry standards in the motion picture and entertainment production industry, where rest periods are typically treated as paid time on the clock and are not recorded through punch-in or punch-out entries. AMA's Policy instructs supervisors to authorize and permit rest periods in accordance with the schedule prescribed by IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and to ensure that employees are relieved of all duties during their rest periods.

7. AMA utilizes the "TimeTrack Pro" electronic timekeeping system, which is developed and administered by NovaPay Solutions Inc. ("NovaPay"). NovaPay is headquartered at 2200 Powell Street, Suite 600, Emeryville, California 94608, and has served as AMA's payroll processor and timekeeping system provider since January 1, 2019. Prior to January 1, 2019, AMA utilized a manual time-sheet system in which employees recorded their work hours on paper timesheets that were reviewed and approved by their supervisors on a weekly basis. Upon transitioning to TimeTrack Pro, AMA deployed electronic punch-in and punch-out terminals at all seven (7) of its California production facilities. Employees are required to clock in at the beginning of their shifts, clock out for meal periods, clock back in following meal periods, and clock out at the end of their shifts. The key custodian for TimeTrack Pro system data at NovaPay is Marcus Yee, Director of Client Data Services. Mr. Yee is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the timekeeping data and can provide certified records of employee time entries upon request.

8. The TimeTrack Pro system includes an automatic meal period deduction feature (the "Auto-Deduction Feature"). The Auto-Deduction Feature, as configured for AMA's account at the time of system deployment in January 2019, automatically deducts thirty (30) minutes from an employee's total recorded hours for any shift of six (6) hours or more. The deduction is applied at the sixth hour of the shift — that is, once an employee's recorded hours reach 6.0 hours, the system automatically deducts 0.5 hours from the employee's total time for that shift, reflecting a presumed thirty-minute meal period. The system does not apply a second automatic deduction for shifts exceeding ten (10) hours; rather, employees were expected to manually adjust their time entries to reflect any second meal period taken during shifts of that length. In connection with my review of AMA's policies and timekeeping system configurations for purposes of this litigation, I learned that the six (6) hour threshold at which the Auto-Deduction Feature was triggered was inconsistent with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001, which requires that a first meal period be provided no later than the end of an employee's fifth (5th) hour of work. This discrepancy was a system configuration issue — i.e., the trigger threshold was set at six hours rather than five hours during the initial setup of AMA's account with NovaPay. Upon identifying this discrepancy, AMA directed NovaPay to correct the Auto-Deduction threshold from six (6) hours to five (5) hours. This correction was implemented and became effective in December 2022.

9. In addition to the Auto-Deduction Feature, the TimeTrack Pro system includes a "Missed Meal Attestation" feature (the "Attestation Feature"). The Attestation Feature is designed to allow employees to report a missed or shortened meal period by selecting a designated option on the electronic time clock terminal at their facility. When an employee activates the Attestation Feature, the system performs two functions: first, it overrides the Auto-Deduction for that shift and restores thirty (30) minutes to the employee's total recorded hours for that day; and second, it triggers an automatic one-hour meal period premium payment, which is calculated at the employee's regular rate of pay and included in the employee's compensation in the next regularly scheduled pay cycle. The Attestation Feature is designed to serve as a self-service mechanism to ensure that employees who do not receive a compliant meal break on any given shift are promptly and automatically compensated in accordance with California Labor Code Section 226.7 and the applicable provisions of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001.

10. The Attestation Feature was activated at the following four (4) facilities at the time of the initial TimeTrack Pro system rollout in January 2019:

(a) Facility 1 — West Hollywood Headquarters and Post-Production (8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, CA 90069);

(b) Facility 3 — Sherman Oaks Digital Content Production (15301 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403);

(d) Facility 6 — Santa Monica E-Commerce Studio (2120 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404).

However, the Attestation Feature was not activated at the following three (3) facilities, which transitioned to the TimeTrack Pro system in a second rollout wave in March 2019:

(a) Facility 2 — Studio City Unscripted Programming, Stages A & B (4024 Penmark Strategy Partners Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604);

(b) Facility 4 — Burbank Live Events and Field Production (3800 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505); and

I first became aware of this discrepancy in approximately November 2022, when it was identified during a comprehensive review of AMA's timekeeping system configurations conducted in connection with this litigation. Based on my investigation, the Attestation Feature was intended to be activated at all seven California facilities; its deactivation at Facilities 2, 4, and 7 was the result of an oversight during the second wave of the TimeTrack Pro system rollout in March 2019. Specifically, the NovaPay implementation team that configured the system at these three facilities did not replicate all of the custom settings that had been applied during the initial rollout at the first four facilities. Upon learning of this issue, I directed that the Attestation Feature be immediately activated at all three affected facilities. Activation was completed at all three facilities in December 2022.

11. Even at the four (4) facilities where the Attestation Feature was properly activated throughout the class period, usage rates for the feature were low. Based on AMA's analysis of TimeTrack Pro data for the class period (November 1, 2018 through the present), as confirmed by Karen Fong, AMA's Payroll Manager, the Attestation Feature was utilized at the following rates, expressed as a percentage of total eligible shifts (i.e., shifts of five hours or more worked by non-exempt employees):

(a) Facility 1 — West Hollywood Headquarters: 2.3% of eligible shifts;

(b) Facility 3 — Sherman Oaks Digital Content: 4.1% of eligible shifts;

(d) Facility 6 — Santa Monica E-Commerce Studio: 3.7% of eligible shifts.

These low usage rates across all four facilities where the feature was available suggest that the overwhelming majority of non-exempt employees at these facilities were able to take their meal periods without incident during the class period. However, these rates alone do not establish class-wide compliance or non-compliance; they merely illustrate one data point among many that would require individualized analysis to interpret.

12. AMA's Employee Handbook (March 2021 revision) states, in relevant part, that employees "are entitled to a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period" and "should notify their supervisor if they are unable to take a meal period." However, the Employee Handbook does not specifically reference the TimeTrack Pro Missed Meal Attestation Feature by name, nor does it contain step-by-step instructions for activating the feature on the time clock terminal. AMA did not conduct formal classroom-based or online training sessions specifically dedicated to educating employees about the existence and operation of the TimeTrack Pro Missed Meal Attestation Feature. Instead, AMA relied upon a supervisory-level instruction model. Specifically, managers and supervisors — including Unit Production Managers ("UPMs") and Line Producers assigned to each of AMA's fourteen show units — were expected to familiarize new employees with the time clock system, including the Attestation Feature, as part of the standard employee onboarding process at each facility. AMA thus relied on decentralized, supervisory-level instruction rather than a centralized, company-wide training program for this particular feature. The extent to which individual supervisors in fact trained their team members on the Attestation Feature varied by supervisor and by show unit, and is a matter that would require individualized inquiry to determine.

13. AMA's fourteen (14) show units operate in materially different environments, with distinct production schedules, operational requirements, staffing levels, and supervisory structures. As a consequence, the working conditions experienced by non-exempt employees — including, critically, their meal and rest break experiences and scheduling practices — are not uniform across show units. This variation is not the product of any deliberate policy of non-compliance by AMA. Rather, it is inherent to the entertainment production industry, where different types of programming — including studio-based unscripted shows, field-based reality programming, live event broadcasts, post-production editing, scripted development, and digital content production — impose fundamentally different operational demands on the production teams that create them. The paragraphs that follow describe several representative examples of this variation.

14. AMA's studio-based show units operate in controlled production environments with relatively predictable schedules. For example, "Kitchen Clash," one of AMA's studio-based unscripted programs, is filmed at Facility 1 in West Hollywood. Production days for "Kitchen Clash" and similar studio-based shows typically run eight (8) to ten (10) hours, and production schedules are established in advance. Meal breaks are scheduled in advance and specifically designated on the daily call sheet, which is distributed to all members of the production team prior to the start of each production day. Production staff on these shows generally clock out for lunch at the time designated on the call sheet and are typically able to take full thirty (30) minute, duty-free meal periods without interruption. The controlled studio environment — which includes on-site commissary or catering facilities, designated break areas, and the ability to halt production at a predetermined time — facilitates compliance with meal period requirements. In general, meal breaks on studio-based shows are taken without incident, and the studio environment does not present the logistical challenges encountered on field-based or live event productions.

15. In contrast, AMA's field-based show units operate in substantially different conditions. "Summit Challenge," AMA's flagship unscripted franchise and one of its highest-rated programs, is filmed at various outdoor locations throughout the United States, with production logistics coordinated from Facility 4 in Burbank. "Summit Challenge" generates approximately $42 million in annual revenue for AMA and is one of the Company's most commercially significant properties. Production days for "Summit Challenge" and similar field-based shows frequently run twelve (12) to sixteen (16) hours, and the extended duration of these shoots reflects the unpredictable nature of outdoor, location-based filming. While meal breaks are included in the daily call sheet for field productions, the logistical challenges associated with filming at remote outdoor locations — including limited access to shelter, exposure to adverse weather conditions, difficult or inaccessible terrain, extended travel times between base camp and filming locations, and the operational need to maintain production momentum during windows of favorable light or weather — can make it difficult to provide a fully uninterrupted thirty (30) minute meal break on every shoot day. Second meal period compliance for shifts exceeding ten (10) hours is a particular challenge on field productions, where the intensity and pace of filming during extended shoot days can create circumstances in which breaks are delayed or interrupted. The question of whether a particular employee on a field production received a compliant meal break on a particular day depends on the specific conditions encountered during that shoot — conditions that vary from day to day and from location to location.

16. AMA's live events show units present yet another distinct set of operational circumstances. Live events productions — including concerts, award ceremonies, and other live broadcasts — are coordinated from Facility 4 in Burbank. These productions have unique scheduling constraints that are dictated by the fixed timing of the live event itself. The broadcast time of a live show cannot be adjusted to accommodate the scheduling of employee breaks, and the setup, rehearsal, and production schedules leading up to a live broadcast are driven by the logistical requirements of the event. Meal breaks are provided when feasible, but the live nature of these productions creates time pressures and operational demands that differ fundamentally from those encountered on pre-planned studio shoots or even field-based productions. The meal and rest break experiences of employees working on live events are thus shaped by a unique set of constraints that are specific to that type of production. It is pertinent to note that Named Plaintiff Yesenia Padilla worked in the Live Events Division at the Burbank facility (Facility 4) — one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during the relevant portion of the class period.

17. AMA's post-production operations present still another set of working conditions. Post-production work is conducted at Facilities 1, 5, and 7 and is office-based in nature. Employees in post-production — including editors, assistant editors, post-production coordinators, and post-production assistants — typically work regular, predictable schedules of eight (8) to ten (10) hours per day. These employees work in climate-controlled office environments with ready access to break rooms, kitchen facilities, and common areas. Meal and rest breaks are taken in accordance with standard schedules, and the nature of post-production work — which does not involve the time-sensitive constraints of live production or the logistical challenges of remote field work — generally allows employees to take uninterrupted breaks at regular intervals. The working conditions experienced by post-production employees are materially different from those experienced by employees on active production sets. Named Plaintiff Derek Halloran worked as a Post-Production Assistant at the Hollywood facility (Facility 5) and was assigned to the Digital Content Division.

18. AMA's digital content production operations at Facility 3 in Sherman Oaks operate on a hybrid schedule that encompasses both studio-based and remote shoots. The specific scheduling of any given production day varies significantly depending on the type of content being produced. Short-form social media content — such as promotional clips, behind-the-scenes features, and platform-specific segments — may involve quick production shoots of four (4) to six (6) hours, during which meal period obligations may not be triggered at all or may be triggered only once. By contrast, longer-form digital series produced for streaming platforms may involve production days of ten (10) to twelve (12) hours, during which both first and second meal period obligations arise. The significant variation in working conditions even within a single facility underscores that the meal and rest break experiences of AMA's non-exempt employees are driven by the specific show unit and production type to which an employee is assigned on any given day, rather than by any uniform, company-wide practice or policy that could be evaluated on a class-wide basis.

19. AMA's operational structure is decentralized with respect to day-to-day production management. Each of AMA's fourteen (14) show units has its own designated Unit Production Manager ("UPM") or Line Producer who bears primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of that show unit's operations, including the scheduling of production activities, the allocation of crew and support staff, and the scheduling of meal and rest breaks. AMA provides its UPMs and Line Producers with written guidelines regarding break scheduling that are consistent with AMA's written Meal and Rest Break Policy, as described above. However, the specific implementation of break scheduling on any given production day is left to the professional judgment and discretion of each show unit's UPM or Line Producer, who must make real-time decisions based on the particular production needs, operational constraints, and logistical circumstances of that show unit on that day. Supervisory practices regarding the timing, duration, and manner of meal and rest break administration thus vary by individual UPM or Line Producer, by show unit, and by production type. This decentralized supervisory structure means that the question of whether a particular non-exempt employee received a compliant meal or rest break on a particular day ultimately depends on the specific scheduling decisions and real-time actions of that employee's UPM or Line Producer — not on any company-wide directive or uniform practice that can be evaluated through common proof.

20. The three named plaintiffs in this action worked in different divisions of AMA, at different facilities, under different supervisors, and during partially overlapping but distinct periods of employment. Their varying roles, working conditions, and experiences illustrate the individualized nature of meal and rest break issues at AMA:

(a) Marisol Fuentes was employed by AMA as a Production Coordinator in the Unscripted Programming Division, based at the Studio City facility (Facility 2). Ms. Fuentes's dates of employment were March 14, 2019 through August 5, 2022, and her hourly rate at the time of her separation from AMA was $28.50 per hour. Facility 2 was one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during Ms. Fuentes's tenure.

(b) Derek Halloran was employed by AMA as a Post-Production Assistant in the Digital Content Division, based at the Hollywood facility (Facility 5). Mr. Halloran's dates of employment were June 1, 2020 through November 30, 2022, and his hourly rate at the time of his separation from AMA was $24.75 per hour. Facility 5 was one of the four facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was activated and operational throughout the class period.

(c) Yesenia Padilla was employed by AMA as a Segment Coordinator in the Live Events Division, based at the Burbank facility (Facility 4). Ms. Padilla's dates of employment were January 10, 2018 through May 17, 2022, and her hourly rate at the time of her separation from AMA was $31.00 per hour. Facility 4 was one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during Ms. Padilla's tenure.

Each of these named plaintiffs worked in a fundamentally different operational environment — Ms. Fuentes in studio-based unscripted production, Mr. Halloran in office-based post-production, and Ms. Padilla in live event production — with distinct production schedules, supervisory structures, and working conditions. Their individual experiences are not representative of one another, much less of the approximately 1,850 putative class members who worked across seven facilities, fourteen show units, and multiple production types over the nearly five-year class period.

21. During the class period (November 1, 2018 through the present), AMA's Human Resources department received a total of fourteen (14) formal complaints from non-exempt, hourly employees in California regarding alleged meal or rest break issues. These fourteen complaints were submitted by employees working at five (5) of AMA's seven (7) California facilities and assigned to eight (8) of the Company's fourteen (14) show units. Each complaint was investigated individually by the Human Resources department in accordance with AMA's standard complaint investigation procedures. The results of those investigations were as follows:

(a) In nine (9) of the fourteen (14) cases, AMA determined, upon investigation, that a meal or rest period premium was owed to the complaining employee. In each such case, AMA paid the applicable premium to the affected employee in the next regularly scheduled pay cycle following the completion of the investigation.

(b) In the remaining five (5) cases, AMA determined, upon investigation, that the complaining employee had in fact received a compliant meal or rest break and that no premium was owed. In each such case, AMA communicated its findings to the employee and documented the resolution of the complaint.

The relatively small number of formal complaints received during the class period — fourteen (14) complaints across an employee population of approximately 1,850 putative class members over a nearly five-year period — and the individualized nature of each complaint and its resolution, further demonstrate that meal and rest break experiences at AMA are not uniform across facilities and show units. Rather, each instance of a potential meal or rest break issue arose from a unique combination of circumstances specific to the individual employee, the specific show unit, the specific facility, and the specific production day in question.

22. Upon identification of the Attestation Feature deactivation at Facilities 2, 4, and 7 in approximately November 2022, AMA undertook prompt corrective action to address the identified issues. Specifically:

(a) I directed the immediate activation of the Missed Meal Attestation Feature at all three affected facilities (Facility 2 in Studio City, Facility 4 in Burbank, and Facility 7 in El Segundo). This directive was communicated to NovaPay Solutions, and the activation was completed at all three facilities in December 2022.

(b) Concurrently, I directed NovaPay Solutions to correct the Auto-Deduction Feature threshold from six (6) hours to five (5) hours, in order to bring the system configuration into compliance with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and California Labor Code Section 512(a). This correction was also implemented and completed in December 2022.

These corrective actions demonstrate AMA's good faith commitment to compliance with California's wage-and-hour laws and its willingness to promptly remediate identified issues when they are brought to the Company's attention. AMA continues to monitor its timekeeping system configurations and break policies to ensure ongoing compliance.

23. Based on the foregoing, it is my understanding that the question of whether AMA "provided" compliant meal and rest periods to its non-exempt, hourly employees during the class period cannot be answered on a class-wide basis through common proof. The answer to that question depends on a multitude of individualized factors, including: (a) the specific show unit to which the employee was assigned; (b) the specific facility at which the employee worked; (c) the specific supervisor (UPM or Line Producer) who was responsible for scheduling the employee's breaks on a given day; (d) the specific production schedule and operational circumstances prevailing on that particular day; (e) whether the Attestation Feature was activated at the employee's facility during the relevant time period; (f) whether the employee was trained on the Attestation Feature and, if so, by whom; and (g) the employee's individual circumstances, including the type of work performed, the length of the shift, and whether the employee voluntarily chose to forgo or shorten a break. AMA's fourteen (14) distinct show units, seven (7) geographically dispersed facilities, and decentralized supervisory structure — in which individual UPMs and Line Producers exercise significant discretion in the day-to-day scheduling of meal and rest breaks — create a patchwork of distinct working environments in which meal and rest break experiences vary significantly from employee to employee, from show unit to show unit, from facility to facility, and from day to day. AMA respectfully submits that the resolution of the claims asserted in this action requires individualized inquiry into the specific circumstances of each putative class member's employment, and that such individualized issues predominate over any questions common to the class. Accordingly, AMA respectfully requests that the Court deny Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on June 14, 2023, at West Hollywood, California.

________________________________________

Lorraine Okafor Senior Vice President of Human Resources Aurelius Media Americas Inc.

MARISOL FUENTES, DEREK HALLORAN, and YESENIA PADILLA, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated,

(Consolidated with Case No. 22STCV39501)

Plaintiffs,

Assigned for All Purposes to:

v.	Hon. Raymond Escobedo, Dept. 34
AURELIUS MEDIA AMERICAS INC., a Delaware corporation; and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive,	DECLARATION OF LORRAINE OKAFOR IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT AURELIUS MEDIA AMERICAS INC.'S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Defendant.	Date: July 19, 2023

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Dept.: 34

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES — CENTRAL DISTRICT
DECLARATION OF LORRAINE OKAFOR
I, Lorraine Okafor, declare as follows:
1. My name is Lorraine Okafor. I am the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Aurelius Media Americas Inc. ("AMA" or the "Company"). I have held this position since June 2019. Prior to joining AMA, I served in human resources leadership roles in the entertainment industry for over fifteen (15) years, including positions of increasing responsibility at major production companies and studios. I make this declaration based on my personal knowledge and upon my review of AMA's business records, which are maintained in the ordinary course of AMA's regularly conducted business. If called as a witness, I could and would competently testify to the matters stated herein.
2. AMA is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (Delaware Division of Corporations File No. 5284731), and is qualified to transact business in the State of California. AMA's principal office is located at 8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, California 90069. AMA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aurelius Global Media Group PLC ("AGMG"), a public limited company organized under the laws of England and Wales (Companies House Registration No. 08412667), with its registered office and principal place of business located at 34 Kingsway, London WC2B 6EX, United Kingdom. AGMG is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGMG." For fiscal year 2022, AMA generated approximately $687.4 million in revenue from its United States operations. AMA's President is Jonathan Mercer, who reports to AGMG's Chief Executive Officer in London. AMA is engaged in the production and distribution of entertainment programming across multiple formats, including unscripted television, scripted development, live event production, digital content, and e-commerce programming.
3. AMA employs approximately 3,200 employees in the United States, of whom approximately 2,400 are based in California. During the putative class period alleged in this action — November 1, 2018 through the date of preliminary approval of any class settlement — approximately 1,850 individuals were or had been classified as non-exempt, hourly employees of AMA in California at some point during that period. These non-exempt employees work across seven (7) production facilities in California and are assigned to fourteen (14) distinct show units. All fourteen show units operate under Industrial Welfare Commission ("IWC") Wage Order No. 12-2001 (Motion Picture Industry), as amended. The composition of AMA's workforce fluctuates over time due to the project-based nature of entertainment production, with some employees engaged on a seasonal or per-project basis. As a result, the precise number of non-exempt, hourly employees at any given point during the class period varied.
4. AMA operates the following seven (7) production facilities in California, each of which serves a distinct operational function within the Company's overall business:
(a) Facility 1 — 8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, California 90069. This facility serves as AMA's corporate headquarters and also houses the Company's primary post-production operations, including editing suites, color correction bays, and audio mixing rooms.
(b) Facility 2 — 4024 Penmark Strategy Partners Avenue, Studio City, California 91604. This facility houses Stage A and Stage B, which are AMA's principal production stages for unscripted programming. The majority of AMA's studio-based unscripted shows are filmed at this location.
(c) Facility 3 — 15301 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Sherman Oaks, California 91403. This facility is dedicated to digital content production, including short-form and long-form programming produced for streaming platforms and social media distribution channels.
(d) Facility 4 — 3800 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California 91505. This facility serves as the base of operations for AMA's live events division and field production units. Production crews for field-based shows are coordinated from this location, although the actual filming takes place at various remote locations throughout California and other states.
(e) Facility 5 — 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, California 90028. This facility is dedicated primarily to scripted development, including writers' rooms, development offices, and associated production support operations.
(f) Facility 6 — 2120 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90404. This facility houses AMA's e-commerce studio operations, which produce live and pre-recorded shopping and product demonstration programming for television and digital distribution.
(g) Facility 7 — 888 N. Sepulveda Boulevard, El Segundo, California 90245. This facility serves as AMA's post-production annex, providing overflow editing, visual effects, and finishing capacity to supplement the post-production operations at Facility 1.
Each facility has its own on-site management team, operational requirements, and production schedules, as described in greater detail below.
5. AMA maintains a written Meal and Rest Break Policy (the "Policy"), which was most recently revised in January 2019. The Policy is distributed to all non-exempt employees at the time of hire as part of the Company's new-hire onboarding materials, and is available at all times on AMA's internal human resources portal, which is accessible to all employees via desktop and mobile devices. The substantive provisions of the Policy are also set forth in AMA's Employee Handbook, which was most recently revised in March 2021. The relevant sections of the Employee Handbook are Section 4.3 (Meal Periods), Section 4.4 (Rest Periods), and Section 4.7 (Timekeeping). With respect to meal periods, the Policy provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
(a) All non-exempt employees are entitled to a thirty (30) minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal period for any work shift that exceeds five (5) hours. This provision is consistent with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and California Labor Code Section 512.
(b) A second thirty (30) minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal period is provided for any work shift that exceeds ten (10) hours. An employee may waive the second meal period only if the total hours worked do not exceed twelve (12) hours and the first meal period was not waived, consistent with California Labor Code Section 512(a).
(c) Employees are instructed to notify their supervisor immediately if they are unable to take a meal or rest break for any reason, so that appropriate remedial measures can be taken, including, where applicable, the payment of a meal or rest period premium.
True and correct copies of the relevant sections of the AMA Employee Handbook (March 2021 revision) and the Meal and Rest Break Policy (January 2019 revision) are attached to the concurrently filed Declaration of Counsel as Exhibits D and E, respectively.
6. With respect to rest periods, the Policy provides that all non-exempt employees are entitled to a net ten (10) minute paid rest period for every four (4) hours worked, or major fraction thereof. The Policy further provides that rest periods should, insofar as practicable, be scheduled in the middle of each work period. Employees working shifts exceeding ten (10) hours are entitled to a third rest period. Because rest periods are paid time, they are generally not separately tracked in AMA's timekeeping system. This practice is consistent with prevailing industry standards in the motion picture and entertainment production industry, where rest periods are typically treated as paid time on the clock and are not recorded through punch-in or punch-out entries. AMA's Policy instructs supervisors to authorize and permit rest periods in accordance with the schedule prescribed by IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and to ensure that employees are relieved of all duties during their rest periods.
7. AMA utilizes the "TimeTrack Pro" electronic timekeeping system, which is developed and administered by NovaPay Solutions Inc. ("NovaPay"). NovaPay is headquartered at 2200 Powell Street, Suite 600, Emeryville, California 94608, and has served as AMA's payroll processor and timekeeping system provider since January 1, 2019. Prior to January 1, 2019, AMA utilized a manual time-sheet system in which employees recorded their work hours on paper timesheets that were reviewed and approved by their supervisors on a weekly basis. Upon transitioning to TimeTrack Pro, AMA deployed electronic punch-in and punch-out terminals at all seven (7) of its California production facilities. Employees are required to clock in at the beginning of their shifts, clock out for meal periods, clock back in following meal periods, and clock out at the end of their shifts. The key custodian for TimeTrack Pro system data at NovaPay is Marcus Yee, Director of Client Data Services. Mr. Yee is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the timekeeping data and can provide certified records of employee time entries upon request.
8. The TimeTrack Pro system includes an automatic meal period deduction feature (the "Auto-Deduction Feature"). The Auto-Deduction Feature, as configured for AMA's account at the time of system deployment in January 2019, automatically deducts thirty (30) minutes from an employee's total recorded hours for any shift of six (6) hours or more. The deduction is applied at the sixth hour of the shift — that is, once an employee's recorded hours reach 6.0 hours, the system automatically deducts 0.5 hours from the employee's total time for that shift, reflecting a presumed thirty-minute meal period. The system does not apply a second automatic deduction for shifts exceeding ten (10) hours; rather, employees were expected to manually adjust their time entries to reflect any second meal period taken during shifts of that length. In connection with my review of AMA's policies and timekeeping system configurations for purposes of this litigation, I learned that the six (6) hour threshold at which the Auto-Deduction Feature was triggered was inconsistent with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001, which requires that a first meal period be provided no later than the end of an employee's fifth (5th) hour of work. This discrepancy was a system configuration issue — i.e., the trigger threshold was set at six hours rather than five hours during the initial setup of AMA's account with NovaPay. Upon identifying this discrepancy, AMA directed NovaPay to correct the Auto-Deduction threshold from six (6) hours to five (5) hours. This correction was implemented and became effective in December 2022.
9. In addition to the Auto-Deduction Feature, the TimeTrack Pro system includes a "Missed Meal Attestation" feature (the "Attestation Feature"). The Attestation Feature is designed to allow employees to report a missed or shortened meal period by selecting a designated option on the electronic time clock terminal at their facility. When an employee activates the Attestation Feature, the system performs two functions: first, it overrides the Auto-Deduction for that shift and restores thirty (30) minutes to the employee's total recorded hours for that day; and second, it triggers an automatic one-hour meal period premium payment, which is calculated at the employee's regular rate of pay and included in the employee's compensation in the next regularly scheduled pay cycle. The Attestation Feature is designed to serve as a self-service mechanism to ensure that employees who do not receive a compliant meal break on any given shift are promptly and automatically compensated in accordance with California Labor Code Section 226.7 and the applicable provisions of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001.
10. The Attestation Feature was activated at the following four (4) facilities at the time of the initial TimeTrack Pro system rollout in January 2019:
(a) Facility 1 — West Hollywood Headquarters and Post-Production (8500 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1400, West Hollywood, CA 90069);
(b) Facility 3 — Sherman Oaks Digital Content Production (15301 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403);
(c) Facility 5 — Hollywood Scripted Development (1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, CA 90028); and
(d) Facility 6 — Santa Monica E-Commerce Studio (2120 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404).
However, the Attestation Feature was not activated at the following three (3) facilities, which transitioned to the TimeTrack Pro system in a second rollout wave in March 2019:
(a) Facility 2 — Studio City Unscripted Programming, Stages A & B (4024 Penmark Strategy Partners Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604);
(b) Facility 4 — Burbank Live Events and Field Production (3800 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505); and
(c) Facility 7 — El Segundo Post-Production Annex (888 N. Sepulveda Boulevard, El Segundo, CA 90245).
I first became aware of this discrepancy in approximately November 2022, when it was identified during a comprehensive review of AMA's timekeeping system configurations conducted in connection with this litigation. Based on my investigation, the Attestation Feature was intended to be activated at all seven California facilities; its deactivation at Facilities 2, 4, and 7 was the result of an oversight during the second wave of the TimeTrack Pro system rollout in March 2019. Specifically, the NovaPay implementation team that configured the system at these three facilities did not replicate all of the custom settings that had been applied during the initial rollout at the first four facilities. Upon learning of this issue, I directed that the Attestation Feature be immediately activated at all three affected facilities. Activation was completed at all three facilities in December 2022.
11. Even at the four (4) facilities where the Attestation Feature was properly activated throughout the class period, usage rates for the feature were low. Based on AMA's analysis of TimeTrack Pro data for the class period (November 1, 2018 through the present), as confirmed by Karen Fong, AMA's Payroll Manager, the Attestation Feature was utilized at the following rates, expressed as a percentage of total eligible shifts (i.e., shifts of five hours or more worked by non-exempt employees):
(a) Facility 1 — West Hollywood Headquarters: 2.3% of eligible shifts;
(b) Facility 3 — Sherman Oaks Digital Content: 4.1% of eligible shifts;
(c) Facility 5 — Hollywood Scripted Development: 1.8% of eligible shifts; and
(d) Facility 6 — Santa Monica E-Commerce Studio: 3.7% of eligible shifts.
These low usage rates across all four facilities where the feature was available suggest that the overwhelming majority of non-exempt employees at these facilities were able to take their meal periods without incident during the class period. However, these rates alone do not establish class-wide compliance or non-compliance; they merely illustrate one data point among many that would require individualized analysis to interpret.
12. AMA's Employee Handbook (March 2021 revision) states, in relevant part, that employees "are entitled to a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period" and "should notify their supervisor if they are unable to take a meal period." However, the Employee Handbook does not specifically reference the TimeTrack Pro Missed Meal Attestation Feature by name, nor does it contain step-by-step instructions for activating the feature on the time clock terminal. AMA did not conduct formal classroom-based or online training sessions specifically dedicated to educating employees about the existence and operation of the TimeTrack Pro Missed Meal Attestation Feature. Instead, AMA relied upon a supervisory-level instruction model. Specifically, managers and supervisors — including Unit Production Managers ("UPMs") and Line Producers assigned to each of AMA's fourteen show units — were expected to familiarize new employees with the time clock system, including the Attestation Feature, as part of the standard employee onboarding process at each facility. AMA thus relied on decentralized, supervisory-level instruction rather than a centralized, company-wide training program for this particular feature. The extent to which individual supervisors in fact trained their team members on the Attestation Feature varied by supervisor and by show unit, and is a matter that would require individualized inquiry to determine.
13. AMA's fourteen (14) show units operate in materially different environments, with distinct production schedules, operational requirements, staffing levels, and supervisory structures. As a consequence, the working conditions experienced by non-exempt employees — including, critically, their meal and rest break experiences and scheduling practices — are not uniform across show units. This variation is not the product of any deliberate policy of non-compliance by AMA. Rather, it is inherent to the entertainment production industry, where different types of programming — including studio-based unscripted shows, field-based reality programming, live event broadcasts, post-production editing, scripted development, and digital content production — impose fundamentally different operational demands on the production teams that create them. The paragraphs that follow describe several representative examples of this variation.
14. AMA's studio-based show units operate in controlled production environments with relatively predictable schedules. For example, "Kitchen Clash," one of AMA's studio-based unscripted programs, is filmed at Facility 1 in West Hollywood. Production days for "Kitchen Clash" and similar studio-based shows typically run eight (8) to ten (10) hours, and production schedules are established in advance. Meal breaks are scheduled in advance and specifically designated on the daily call sheet, which is distributed to all members of the production team prior to the start of each production day. Production staff on these shows generally clock out for lunch at the time designated on the call sheet and are typically able to take full thirty (30) minute, duty-free meal periods without interruption. The controlled studio environment — which includes on-site commissary or catering facilities, designated break areas, and the ability to halt production at a predetermined time — facilitates compliance with meal period requirements. In general, meal breaks on studio-based shows are taken without incident, and the studio environment does not present the logistical challenges encountered on field-based or live event productions.
15. In contrast, AMA's field-based show units operate in substantially different conditions. "Summit Challenge," AMA's flagship unscripted franchise and one of its highest-rated programs, is filmed at various outdoor locations throughout the United States, with production logistics coordinated from Facility 4 in Burbank. "Summit Challenge" generates approximately $42 million in annual revenue for AMA and is one of the Company's most commercially significant properties. Production days for "Summit Challenge" and similar field-based shows frequently run twelve (12) to sixteen (16) hours, and the extended duration of these shoots reflects the unpredictable nature of outdoor, location-based filming. While meal breaks are included in the daily call sheet for field productions, the logistical challenges associated with filming at remote outdoor locations — including limited access to shelter, exposure to adverse weather conditions, difficult or inaccessible terrain, extended travel times between base camp and filming locations, and the operational need to maintain production momentum during windows of favorable light or weather — can make it difficult to provide a fully uninterrupted thirty (30) minute meal break on every shoot day. Second meal period compliance for shifts exceeding ten (10) hours is a particular challenge on field productions, where the intensity and pace of filming during extended shoot days can create circumstances in which breaks are delayed or interrupted. The question of whether a particular employee on a field production received a compliant meal break on a particular day depends on the specific conditions encountered during that shoot — conditions that vary from day to day and from location to location.
16. AMA's live events show units present yet another distinct set of operational circumstances. Live events productions — including concerts, award ceremonies, and other live broadcasts — are coordinated from Facility 4 in Burbank. These productions have unique scheduling constraints that are dictated by the fixed timing of the live event itself. The broadcast time of a live show cannot be adjusted to accommodate the scheduling of employee breaks, and the setup, rehearsal, and production schedules leading up to a live broadcast are driven by the logistical requirements of the event. Meal breaks are provided when feasible, but the live nature of these productions creates time pressures and operational demands that differ fundamentally from those encountered on pre-planned studio shoots or even field-based productions. The meal and rest break experiences of employees working on live events are thus shaped by a unique set of constraints that are specific to that type of production. It is pertinent to note that Named Plaintiff Yesenia Padilla worked in the Live Events Division at the Burbank facility (Facility 4) — one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during the relevant portion of the class period.
17. AMA's post-production operations present still another set of working conditions. Post-production work is conducted at Facilities 1, 5, and 7 and is office-based in nature. Employees in post-production — including editors, assistant editors, post-production coordinators, and post-production assistants — typically work regular, predictable schedules of eight (8) to ten (10) hours per day. These employees work in climate-controlled office environments with ready access to break rooms, kitchen facilities, and common areas. Meal and rest breaks are taken in accordance with standard schedules, and the nature of post-production work — which does not involve the time-sensitive constraints of live production or the logistical challenges of remote field work — generally allows employees to take uninterrupted breaks at regular intervals. The working conditions experienced by post-production employees are materially different from those experienced by employees on active production sets. Named Plaintiff Derek Halloran worked as a Post-Production Assistant at the Hollywood facility (Facility 5) and was assigned to the Digital Content Division.
18. AMA's digital content production operations at Facility 3 in Sherman Oaks operate on a hybrid schedule that encompasses both studio-based and remote shoots. The specific scheduling of any given production day varies significantly depending on the type of content being produced. Short-form social media content — such as promotional clips, behind-the-scenes features, and platform-specific segments — may involve quick production shoots of four (4) to six (6) hours, during which meal period obligations may not be triggered at all or may be triggered only once. By contrast, longer-form digital series produced for streaming platforms may involve production days of ten (10) to twelve (12) hours, during which both first and second meal period obligations arise. The significant variation in working conditions even within a single facility underscores that the meal and rest break experiences of AMA's non-exempt employees are driven by the specific show unit and production type to which an employee is assigned on any given day, rather than by any uniform, company-wide practice or policy that could be evaluated on a class-wide basis.
19. AMA's operational structure is decentralized with respect to day-to-day production management. Each of AMA's fourteen (14) show units has its own designated Unit Production Manager ("UPM") or Line Producer who bears primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of that show unit's operations, including the scheduling of production activities, the allocation of crew and support staff, and the scheduling of meal and rest breaks. AMA provides its UPMs and Line Producers with written guidelines regarding break scheduling that are consistent with AMA's written Meal and Rest Break Policy, as described above. However, the specific implementation of break scheduling on any given production day is left to the professional judgment and discretion of each show unit's UPM or Line Producer, who must make real-time decisions based on the particular production needs, operational constraints, and logistical circumstances of that show unit on that day. Supervisory practices regarding the timing, duration, and manner of meal and rest break administration thus vary by individual UPM or Line Producer, by show unit, and by production type. This decentralized supervisory structure means that the question of whether a particular non-exempt employee received a compliant meal or rest break on a particular day ultimately depends on the specific scheduling decisions and real-time actions of that employee's UPM or Line Producer — not on any company-wide directive or uniform practice that can be evaluated through common proof.
20. The three named plaintiffs in this action worked in different divisions of AMA, at different facilities, under different supervisors, and during partially overlapping but distinct periods of employment. Their varying roles, working conditions, and experiences illustrate the individualized nature of meal and rest break issues at AMA:
(a) Marisol Fuentes was employed by AMA as a Production Coordinator in the Unscripted Programming Division, based at the Studio City facility (Facility 2). Ms. Fuentes's dates of employment were March 14, 2019 through August 5, 2022, and her hourly rate at the time of her separation from AMA was $28.50 per hour. Facility 2 was one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during Ms. Fuentes's tenure.
(b) Derek Halloran was employed by AMA as a Post-Production Assistant in the Digital Content Division, based at the Hollywood facility (Facility 5). Mr. Halloran's dates of employment were June 1, 2020 through November 30, 2022, and his hourly rate at the time of his separation from AMA was $24.75 per hour. Facility 5 was one of the four facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was activated and operational throughout the class period.
(c) Yesenia Padilla was employed by AMA as a Segment Coordinator in the Live Events Division, based at the Burbank facility (Facility 4). Ms. Padilla's dates of employment were January 10, 2018 through May 17, 2022, and her hourly rate at the time of her separation from AMA was $31.00 per hour. Facility 4 was one of the three facilities at which the Missed Meal Attestation Feature was not activated during Ms. Padilla's tenure.
Each of these named plaintiffs worked in a fundamentally different operational environment — Ms. Fuentes in studio-based unscripted production, Mr. Halloran in office-based post-production, and Ms. Padilla in live event production — with distinct production schedules, supervisory structures, and working conditions. Their individual experiences are not representative of one another, much less of the approximately 1,850 putative class members who worked across seven facilities, fourteen show units, and multiple production types over the nearly five-year class period.
21. During the class period (November 1, 2018 through the present), AMA's Human Resources department received a total of fourteen (14) formal complaints from non-exempt, hourly employees in California regarding alleged meal or rest break issues. These fourteen complaints were submitted by employees working at five (5) of AMA's seven (7) California facilities and assigned to eight (8) of the Company's fourteen (14) show units. Each complaint was investigated individually by the Human Resources department in accordance with AMA's standard complaint investigation procedures. The results of those investigations were as follows:
(a) In nine (9) of the fourteen (14) cases, AMA determined, upon investigation, that a meal or rest period premium was owed to the complaining employee. In each such case, AMA paid the applicable premium to the affected employee in the next regularly scheduled pay cycle following the completion of the investigation.
(b) In the remaining five (5) cases, AMA determined, upon investigation, that the complaining employee had in fact received a compliant meal or rest break and that no premium was owed. In each such case, AMA communicated its findings to the employee and documented the resolution of the complaint.
The relatively small number of formal complaints received during the class period — fourteen (14) complaints across an employee population of approximately 1,850 putative class members over a nearly five-year period — and the individualized nature of each complaint and its resolution, further demonstrate that meal and rest break experiences at AMA are not uniform across facilities and show units. Rather, each instance of a potential meal or rest break issue arose from a unique combination of circumstances specific to the individual employee, the specific show unit, the specific facility, and the specific production day in question.
22. Upon identification of the Attestation Feature deactivation at Facilities 2, 4, and 7 in approximately November 2022, AMA undertook prompt corrective action to address the identified issues. Specifically:
(a) I directed the immediate activation of the Missed Meal Attestation Feature at all three affected facilities (Facility 2 in Studio City, Facility 4 in Burbank, and Facility 7 in El Segundo). This directive was communicated to NovaPay Solutions, and the activation was completed at all three facilities in December 2022.
(b) Concurrently, I directed NovaPay Solutions to correct the Auto-Deduction Feature threshold from six (6) hours to five (5) hours, in order to bring the system configuration into compliance with the requirements of IWC Wage Order No. 12-2001 and California Labor Code Section 512(a). This correction was also implemented and completed in December 2022.
These corrective actions demonstrate AMA's good faith commitment to compliance with California's wage-and-hour laws and its willingness to promptly remediate identified issues when they are brought to the Company's attention. AMA continues to monitor its timekeeping system configurations and break policies to ensure ongoing compliance.
23. Based on the foregoing, it is my understanding that the question of whether AMA "provided" compliant meal and rest periods to its non-exempt, hourly employees during the class period cannot be answered on a class-wide basis through common proof. The answer to that question depends on a multitude of individualized factors, including: (a) the specific show unit to which the employee was assigned; (b) the specific facility at which the employee worked; (c) the specific supervisor (UPM or Line Producer) who was responsible for scheduling the employee's breaks on a given day; (d) the specific production schedule and operational circumstances prevailing on that particular day; (e) whether the Attestation Feature was activated at the employee's facility during the relevant time period; (f) whether the employee was trained on the Attestation Feature and, if so, by whom; and (g) the employee's individual circumstances, including the type of work performed, the length of the shift, and whether the employee voluntarily chose to forgo or shorten a break. AMA's fourteen (14) distinct show units, seven (7) geographically dispersed facilities, and decentralized supervisory structure — in which individual UPMs and Line Producers exercise significant discretion in the day-to-day scheduling of meal and rest breaks — create a patchwork of distinct working environments in which meal and rest break experiences vary significantly from employee to employee, from show unit to show unit, from facility to facility, and from day to day. AMA respectfully submits that the resolution of the claims asserted in this action requires individualized inquiry into the specific circumstances of each putative class member's employment, and that such individualized issues predominate over any questions common to the class. Accordingly, AMA respectfully requests that the Court deny Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on June 14, 2023, at West Hollywood, California.
________________________________________
Lorraine Okafor Senior Vice President of Human Resources Aurelius Media Americas Inc.
MARISOL FUENTES, DEREK HALLORAN, and YESENIA PADILLA, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, | Lead Case No. 22STCV38214
(Consolidated with Case No. 22STCV39501)
Plaintiffs,
Assigned for All Purposes to:
v. | Hon. Raymond Escobedo, Dept. 34
AURELIUS MEDIA AMERICAS INC., a Delaware corporation; and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, | DECLARATION OF LORRAINE OKAFOR IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT AURELIUS MEDIA AMERICAS INC.'S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
Defendant. | Date: July 19, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Dept.: 34

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DECLARATION OF LORRAINE OKAFOR

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