After the tortuous appellate process that finally resulted in the seminal California Supreme Court Brinker Restaurant Corporation decision defining the legal duty to provide a meal period and authorize rest breaks, you might have thought the battle was over, at least for Brinker Restaurants.  You would be wrong.  That was just Round One.  In Round Two, last week San Diego County Superior Court judge William Dato addressed the question the California Supreme Court did not decide during the multi-year appellate process:  whether a class should be certified to litigate whether meal periods were "provided" to thousands of employees of restaurants owned and operated by Brinker throughout California.  While the California Supreme Court decision was widely viewed as a victory for employers on the meal break requirement under California law, last week's decision gave the green light to employees to continue this now nine-year fight as a class action to seek premium pay, penalties and possibly injunctive relief from their employer for failure to provide meal and rest breaks. Continue reading about this development here.