Caliber Bodyworks, Inc. v. Superior Court, 134 Cal. App. 4th 365 (2005)

Four former employees of Caliber Bodyworks filed a complaint for various wage-and-hour violations on behalf of themselves and as class representatives and for civil penalties for these violations. Caliber demurred to the entire complaint on the ground that plaintiffs had failed to allege they had satisfied the administrative prerequisites of the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), Labor Code § 2698, et seq. After the trial court overruled its demurrer, Caliber filed a petition for writ of mandate. The Court of Appeal granted the petition in part, holding that plaintiffs’ claims for civil penalties arose, if at all, under PAGA, meaning that plaintiffs were required to plead compliance with the Act’s pre-filing notice and exhaustion requirements. However, the Court left undisturbed the trial court’s order denying dismissal of the other parts of the complaint.