While the Court of Appeal issues opinions that continue to jeopardize PAGA, corporate lobbyists have drafted a proposed ballot initiative that would kill PAGA entirely.

Brian and Shant address a recent court ruling as well as proposed legislation that may significantly weaken or even eliminate the use of the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) in California. In September, the Second District Court of Appeal, in the case of Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC (2021) 68 Cal.App.5th 746, held that trial courts had the right to determine whether a PAGA case is manageable and that a defendant’s right to present an affirmative defense must be taken into account. Brian and Shant discuss the common tactic defense attorneys take to make a PAGA case as unmanageable as possible by presenting an affirmative defense to each individual employee present in a PAGA claim, which means asking the court to hear from hundreds or even thousands of employees in a case—rendering a case unmanageable. 

Next, Brian and Shant discuss a recent “request for title and summary filing” (a pre-requisite for a ballot initiative) with the State’s Attorney General of a bill that would effectively eliminate PAGA. It would not preclude workers from acting on behalf of other aggrieved workers who have faced workplace violations, but it would also preclude lawyers from representing aggrieved workers under the PAGA statute. Instead, workers would be expected to file their own individual claims without the assistance of legal representation or to wait for the state itself to take on their case. 

If you have any questions about PAGA cases or have any other interesting cases or questions you would like to please reach out to us. 

Brian Kabatek: bsk@kbklawyers.com

Shant Karnikian: sk@kbklawyers.com