Plaintiffs Robert Mark-Waterhouse (formally Robert H. Watrous), Roberta Dillon, Anita Watkins and Craig Cherry, tour directors for Group Voyagers Inc., a Colorado-based seller of multi-day tour packages for bus tours, were not paid for overtime or missed meal/rest breaks. They claimed that Group Voyagers historically treated their tour directors as administrative or professional employees, who were exempt from overtime and meal/rest breaks, and that after it settled an earlier overtime class action suit, Group Voyagers changed its pay model to a monthly salary, but continued to classify its tour directors as exempt employees. Thus, Waterhouse, Cherry and Watkins, acting as lead plaintiffs on behalf of a class of 71 tour directors, and Dillon, a class member, filed a class action lawsuit against Group Voyagers for violations of the Labor Code as a result of unpaid overtime, missed meal/rest breaks, and related recordkeeping and pay stub violations under California law. The class’ counsel contended that even though Group Voyagers changed its pay model to a monthly salary, it continued to classify its tour directors as exempt employees, even after it had paid over $14 million in 2004 to settle an earlier overtime class action, brought by the class’ current counsel, under California and federal law. Counsel also contended that after the prior settlement, Group Voyagers added to its employment agreements a requirement that stated that any employment disputes had to be arbitrated in Colorado and that Colorado law had to be applied in the arbitration, instead of California’s stronger wage and hour protections. However, the class’ counsel argued that Group Voyagers could not void its rights under California law by requiring its employees to sign an employment agreement that had an arbitration clause that substituted another state’s law. The matter proceeded to arbitration, during which the arbitrator denied Group Voyager’s summary judgment motion asserting the preemptive effect of Colorado law on the plaintiffs’ claims. The class claimed that the majority of their duties included routine, non-exempt tasks, such as following the company mandated itinerary, assembling luggage, checking tour members into hotels, offering commentary on the sites visited, and selling optional tour extensions. However, they claimed that their duties did not include hiring, firing or disciplining other employees and that as such, they should be classified as non-exempt. Group Voyagers contended that the tour directors were properly classified as exempt employees under the administrative exemption, given that tour directors were the sole company representative responsible for overseeing each and every tour, including spending lengthy periods of time (sometimes extending more than two weeks) on tour with passengers and being responsible for supervising the services of all hotel, restaurant, attraction and transportation vendors. Group Voyagers also contended that the tour directors were also properly classified as exempt pursuant to the creative professional exemption, given that tour directors were required to create and deliver unique and personalized commentary to the passengers on tour regarding the sites visited during the tour., The class of tour directors sought recovery of damages for their alleged unpaid overtime based on the theory that tour directors were on duty 24 hours a day for each day they were on tour. They also sought recovery of damages for all tour days worked, regardless of whether the tour days were worked in California or elsewhere, and regardless of each individual tour director’s state of residence.