California Supreme Court Rules Mobilization Work Not Subject to Prevailing Wage

Kerry Shapiro wrote an article for the Natural Resources and Mining Law Blog discussing the impact of the California Supreme Court’s ruling on prevailing wage case Mendoza v. Fonseca McElroy Grinding Co., Inc. JMBM client California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) filed an Amicus Brief in support of Fonseca.

The full text of the article can be found on the blog. A brief excerpt is below.

On August 16, 2021, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Mendoza v. Fonseca McElroy Grinding Co., Inc., answering the question whether prevailing wage must be paid for mobilization work, which involved transporting heavy machinery to and from a public works site under Labor Code section 1772. The Court held that section 1772 does not expand the categories of public work that trigger obligation to pay at least the prevailing wage and that under this theory, prevailing wage did not need to be paid for mobilization work…The Court reached its decision contrary to several decisions over the past 15 years in lower courts and the Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”), and represents a major victory for industry by rejecting an attempt to balloon the coverage of prevailing wage law under Labor Code section 1772.

To read more about the Supreme Court’s ruling, a copy of the Decision is available here. CalCIMA’s Amicus Brief, prepared by JMBM in support of defendant Fonseca is available here.

Kerry Shapiro
Kerry Shapiro chairs the Natural Resources & Mining Practice Group at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. He has represented the mining, construction and building materials industries on mineral extraction and land development projects for more than 25 years. Kerry also serves as General Counsel to the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA). Contact Kerry at KShapiro@jmbm.com.

JMBM’s Natural Resources & Mining Law Group
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