Aaron Buckley Writes Article for Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin About California Court of Appeal Decision to Dismiss PAGA Claims
Aaron Buckley, national vice chair of the Quarles & Brady Labor & Employment Practice Group, wrote an article for Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin about the California Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims. The decision states that if an individual loses arbitration on individual claims, they can’t pursue group claims under PAGA. This also highlights the importance for employers to regularly review their policies and practices to make sure they comply with the Labor Code.
An excerpt:
A plaintiff must satisfy two requirements in order to have standing to litigate a PAGA claim: (1) the plaintiff must be an “aggrieved employee,” defined as someone was employed by the alleged violator; and (2) the plaintiff must be a person “against whom one or more of the alleged [Labor Code] violations was committed.”
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In February 2018 after a two-day arbitration hearing, the arbitrator issued an award in favor of Lawrence Equipment and against Rodriguez, finding Rodriguez had failed to sustain his burden of proof as to any of his wage and hour claims.13 In June 2018, the trial court entered an order confirming the arbitration award and entering judgment in favor of Lawrence Equipment and against Rodriguez as to the first through seventh causes of action.