We invite you to review our newly-posted May 2024 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Employee May Proceed With Lawsuit Despite Only Alleging “Representative” PAGA Claims
Balderas v. Fresh Start Harvesting, Inc., 101 Cal. App. 5th 533 (2024)
Lizbeth Balderas sued her former employer on behalf of 500 other current and former employees of an agricultural company, seeking civil penalties under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”). In her complaint, Balderas stated she was “not suing in her individual capacity; she is proceeding herein solely under
January 2024 California Employment Law Notes
We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2024 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
“Poison-Pill” Provision Voided Entire Arbitration Agreement
DeMarinis v. Heritage Bank of Commerce, 2023 WL 9113099 (Cal. Ct. App. 2023)
Former bank employees filed a lawsuit against their former employer for various wage-and-hour violations. The lawsuit included a Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claim, under which plaintiffs sued on behalf of all other “aggrieved employees” of the company. In response, the bank filed an unsuccessful motion to compel plaintiffs’ “individual” claims
July 2023 California Employment Law Notes
We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
- Enforcement of PAGA Carve Out Suggests Need For New Revisions To Arbitration Agreements
- PAGA Debt Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy
- Distributors Not Liable For Unpaid Wages Of Agricultural Workers
- Exemption of Financial Professionals From ABC
Enforcement of PAGA Carve Out Suggests Need For New Revisions To Arbitration Agreements
Duran v. EmployBridge Holding Co., 92 Cal. App. 5th 59 (2023)
In 2014, the California Supreme Court determined that Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claims are immune from arbitration in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC – which, unsurprisingly, led to an avalanche of PAGA claims being filed as plaintiffs’ lawyers scrambled to make their cases arbitration-proof (at least as to those pesky
PAGA Debt Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy
In re Patacsil, 2023 WL 3964908 (Bankr. E.D. Cal. June 9, 2023)
The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) permits aggrieved employees to file representative action to recover civil penalties for Labor Code violations. The law allocates 75% of any recovery to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) for “enforcement of labor laws” and “education of employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities”