In today’s News and Commentary, a federal judge grants denies workers’ bid to have RSUs included in rate calculations for overtime, Werner truckers seek final approval for $18 million class settlement, and California Courts of Appeal uphold finding that Tesla yard hostlers are exempt from the FAA.

On Thursday, a federal judge granted Apple’s motion for summary judgment in a class action brought by nearly 2,300 California and 400 New York employees seeking to have the value of restricted stock units (RSUs) included in overtime pay calculations. RSUs are “a future right to receive shares,” with employees’ shares vesting over a period of time in order to incentivize retention. Apple started making RSU available to all of its employees, including hourly non-exempt employees, in 2015. The named plaintiffs in the suit, all hourly non-exempt workers, argued that, where employers pay compensation in the form of stock, the value of stock must be included in the regular rate of pay that is then used to calculate overtime pay. By not accounting for the value of RSUs in baseline compensation, Apple effectively underpays overtime wages in violation of the FLSA and California and New York state law, which require a higher rate of pay for overtime. Judge William H. Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California found that, although RSUs are not expressly contemplated under the FLSA’s gift or equity exceptions, they are more similar to discretionary awards than contractual compensation and it is “hard to imagine that Congress would exclude stock options from FLSA overtime rate calculations but would choose not to exclude RSUs, which are almost identical in purpose, form, and function.” Notably, on May 4, 2026, the Valuing Employee Stock Today Act was introduced to propose an amendment to FLSA to expressly exempt RSUs from the determination of employees’ regular rate of compensation.

On Thursday, truckers for Werner Enterprises Inc. filed an unopposed motion for final approval for class action settlement, seeking approval from a federal judge in Nebraska for a proposed $18 million settlement. The class action represented claims for approximately 100,000 current and former Werner truckers covering a period from 2010 to 2023. The class action alleged violations of California and Nebraska law, but Werner did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Of the $18 million, $6 million is set aside as attorneys’ fees for counsel representing the workers, while $20 is allocated to each Nebraska class member and $40 is allocated to each California class member.

Also on Thursday, Justice Carin T. Fujisaki found in the California Courts of Appeal upheld the trial court finding that Tesla yard hostlers are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act and can pursue wage and hour claims in state court. Yard hostlers move 53-foot shipping trailers around factory grounds for unloading and receiving, which the court recognized as a necessary step in the completion of the interstate journey of auto parts. As such, these yard hostlers qualify for the FAA’s interstate commerce exemption, even though the workers themselves never cross state lines.