Daboub v. Bell Gardens Bicycle Club

In October 2008, Partner Jeffrey P. Fuchsman and Senior Counsel John J. Manier won a victory for the Bicycle Club Casino in California Court of Appeal in Daboub v. Bell Gardens Bicycle Club, Inc. The court affirmed an order sustaining the Casino’s demurrer to the class action allegations in the plaintiff’s complaint, without leave to amend. The court found that the class action claims were barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel, based on an earlier favorable appellate decision in Lin v. Bell Gardens Bicycle Club, Inc. The plaintiff in Daboub worked as a card dealer at the Bicycle Club Casino in Bell Gardens. She claimed the Casino denied her and other dealers meal and rest periods, and that its “tip pool” violated various provisions of the Labor Code. The class of dealers the plaintiff sought to represent was the same class that was denied certification in Lin. The court ruled that the plaintiff was barred by the Lin decision from certifying the same class.