In a victory for CTA, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that a lawsuit brought by two part-time instructors against the Long Beach Community College District over its failure to pay part-time staff a minimum wage for required work can now proceed as a certified class action lawsuit. The March 27 ruling expands the class represented in the suit, paving the way to include more than 900 other impacted adjunct faculty.

A Superior Court Judge ruled that a CTA-backed lawsuit filed by part-time Long Beach City College instructors Karen Roberts and Seija Rohkea against the Community College District’s failure to pay minimum wage to adjunct teachers can expand the class of the suit to include over 850 other impacted LBCC faculty. Roberts attended the hearing, along with Community College Assn. and Long Beach City Faculty Association officers and other supporters.
The suit was originally filed in April 2022 by Visual Arts Department instructors and Community College Association members Karen Roberts and Seija Rohkea. The plaintiffs alleged that the College violated state and federal minimum wage laws by failing to compensate part-time instructors for all required work outside of lecture hours, including grading, class and syllabi preparation, administrative duties and student office hours.
Long Beach Community College adjunct faculty have been compensated only for their actual time teaching a class, an issue that the adjunct faculty’s union has tried to have LBCC address at the bargaining table repeatedly without success. “I’m relieved and excited,” said Roberts about the ruling. “I deeply appreciate that the judge took into account all we do as adjunct faculty.”
The suit is seeking back pay plus interest, missing retirement system contributions for unpaid wages, a court declaration and injunction requiring LBCC to pay its part-time faculty for all hours worked, and any other penalties available under law.
“We are in solidarity with our part-time faculty,” said Long Beach City College Faculty Association President Suzanne Engelhardt. “We look forward to this case moving forward and to our colleagues getting the pay they deserve.”
No trial date has been set. The judge ordered the parties to confer about issues including class notification, possible mediation or settlement negotiation. Both sides will update the judge on June 25.
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