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Following Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc., the California Supreme Court’s employee-friendly Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ruling earlier this year, employers must remain more diligent than ever to prevent and mitigate costly wage and hour litigation. Estrada eliminated one of employers’ central tools to curb sprawling PAGA claims: requesting dismissal based on the court’s […]
A car wash company provided its employees with a handbook setting forth its employment policies. The handbook was written in both English and Spanish, it required arbitration of employment disputes, and it denied an employee’s right to bring an action under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The English version stated that the denial […]
In an unfavorable opinion for California employers, a California Court of Appeal recently ruled that (1) employees seeking damages in an action arising under Section 226(a) of the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) needn’t sustain any injury to bring the action, (2) the employer’s violations need not be “knowing and intentional” to subject it […]
What happens if an employee files a lawsuit that includes both representative claims under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) as well as individual claims for unpaid wages? May the employer enforce arbitration of the individual claims for unpaid wages, even though PAGA claims aren’t subject to arbitration? A recent case before the California Court of Appeal answers that question.
The California Court of Appeal recently denied an employer’s appeal of a lower court’s denial of its motion to compel arbitration of a lawsuit filed by a former employee that included claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
While the landscape of employment law is always changing, certain wage and hour hazards remain constant. Many of these pitfalls include issues that seem insignificant at the individual employee level but if left unchecked can easily become massive liability risks that snowball into class actions and Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims.
Recently, a California Court of Appeals ruled that the right to sue on behalf of or as a representative of others for wage and hour violations under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (also known as PAGA) and California’s unfair competition law can’t be assigned to a third party, such as a union. Now, […]