Wage Law

If the only claim invoking federal court jurisdiction fails, do not count on the court exercising supplemental jurisdiction over remaining state law claims. Rojas v. Brinderson Constructors Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2008). 567 F.Supp.2d 1205.

In Rojas, a wage and hour class action, the defendant moved for a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) on the plaintiff's Labor Code § 2810 claim, which the district court had previously dismissed with leave to amend. That claim was the only one, among plaintiff's six claims, over which the District Court had original jurisdiction. Judge Otis D. Wright II granted the motion, holding that the plaintiff failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. That left nothing but five causes of action over which the U.S. District Court lacked original jurisdiction. "Where the federal head of jurisdiction has vanished from the case, and there has been no substantial commitment of judicial resources to the nonfederal claims, it is … akin to making the tail wag the dog for the District Court to retain jurisdiction." Murphy v. Kodz (9th Cir. 1965) 351 F.2d 163, 167-68. Therefore, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state court claims, and the entire case was ordered dismissed.

Plaintiffs fail to state a claim under California Labor Code section 2810, and this sixth cause of action is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. The court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims against Brinderson and, accordingly, claims one through five are also DISMISSED. Brinderson’s motions to dismiss, stay and/or strike are all rendered MOOT.

You can download a copy of the Rojas order here in PDF.