Aaron Buckley Writes Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin Article About California Court of Appeal Decision on “Headless” 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 a California Court of Appeal ruling that states “headless” PAGA claims can move forward if another employee represents the aggrieved group. Buckley uses a specific court case to further explain this ruling.

An excerpt:

In 2014, the California Supreme Court held in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC that a cause of action under PAGA could not be divided into individual and non-individual (or “representative”) claims, notwithstanding an arbitration agreement requiring the arbitration of all individual claims.⁴

…

A panel of the Fourth District of Appeal affirmed the trial court on the ground that Parra did not assert individual PAGA claims, “and the trial court therefore could not have erred by failing to compel such claims to arbitration.”¹⁵ In explaining its decision, the panel referenced the language of Parra’s complaint, which notes Parra was bringing his PAGA action “in a Representative Capacity only,” did not reference any individual claims, and included no language explicitly seeking PAGA civil penalties for alleged wage and hour violations he personally suffered.¹⁶

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