Since approximately 2007, plaintiffs Alina Ghrdilyan, a salesperson, and Evgenia Sultanian, who provided office support, worked for RJ Financial Inc., which operated stores for the jewelry chain, Romano’s Jewelers. Ghrdilyan and Sultanian claimed that during their time of employment, they were denied meal and rest breaks, as well as wages for all of their work, including undercalculation of their overtime pay. Ghrdilyan and Sultanian sued, on behalf of themselves and approximately 60 to 70 other affected employees in a private Attorney General action against RJ Financial and its owner, Ramil Abalkhad, for violations of California’s Labor Code. The case against RJ Financial was stayed pending resolution of its bankruptcy petition. Abalkhad contended that he could not be sued because he was not the plaintiffs’ employer, but only an officer of RJ Financial., Ghrdilyan and Sultanian sought recovery in the form civil penalties in excess of $1 million.