ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO STAY [Dkt. 26]

LARRY ALAN BURNS, Chief District Judge.

In June 2018, Plaintiff Sergio Cota filed this suit against his former employers, Fresenius USA, Inc. and Fresenius USA Manufacturing, Inc., alleging that Defendants violated California's meal and rest break requirements. In December 2018, the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") determined that California's meal and rest break rules are preempted by the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 as to commercial motor vehicle drivers like Cota. The FMCSA subsequently clarified that this preemption is retroactive, meaning that it precludes courts from granting relief on claims like Cota's even if the alleged violations occurred before the FMCSA's ruling. Since that time, several parties have challenged the FMCSA's preemption decision through petitions for review with the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit has consolidated those petitions and ordered initial briefing by May 28, 2019. See Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. FMCSA, 18-73488 (9th Cir. 2018). The parties in this action now move to stay the case, arguing that the FMCSA's preemption decision, if it survives appellate review, will significantly impact Cota's claims here.

The Court agrees that a stay is warranted until the Ninth Circuit has a chance to weigh in on this potentially dispositive issue. See Leyva v. Certified Grocers of Cal., Ltd., 593 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir. 1979) ("A trial court may, with propriety, find it is efficient for its own docket and the fairest course for the parties to enter a stay of an action before it, pending resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the case."). This case is STAYED pending the Ninth Circuit's resolution of International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. FMCSA, 18-73488. Within 10 days of the Ninth Circuit resolving that appeal, the parties are to submit a joint report indicating the parties' respective position as to the impact of the decision on this action.

IT IS SO ORDERED.