On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in the long-awaited case of Brinker v. Superior Court (Sup. Ct. Case No. S166350). The case raised a variety of highly litigated and highly contested issues, including: (1) the scope of an employer's meal period obligations to employees; (2) the scope of an employer's rest period obligations to employees; and (3) whether a trial court must or may determine the elements of a plaintiff's claim before deciding whether the claim may proceed on a class-wide basis. While the oral argument briefly addressed issues (2) and (3), it is unsurprising that the bulk of argument pertained to question (1).

Based on the justices' questions, it appears that a majority of them are leaning towards the following holdings...