Authored by Simon L. Yang
Seyfarth Synopsis: When the California Supreme Court said no to PAGA waivers in its 2014 Iskanian ruling, we asked whether employers would boldly go where few have gone before and implement arbitration agreements requiring arbitration of PAGA claims. A recent California Court of Appeal decision issued in Perez v. U-Haul Company of California warrants revisiting
Continue Reading Agree to Arbitrate Representative Issues Much?
Authored by Daniel C. Whang and Simon L. Yang
Seyfarth Synopsis: When an allegedly aggrieved employee attempts both to seek compensatory relief as an individual and to impose penalties as a proxy for the California Labor Commissioner under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”), the resulting comingling of the plaintiff’s interests as an individual and as a representative
Continue Reading You Can’t Eat Your Cake And Have Your PAGA Too
Authored by Simon L. Yang
Seyfarth Synopsis: PAGA was amended earlier this week, in connection with the California legislature’s approval of the state’s annual budget. The legislation did not implement any of the more substantive changes that Governor Brown’s proposed budget had previously suggested—e.g., requiring PAGA plaintiffs to provide additional information when submitting pre-filing written notice to the LWDA or
Continue Reading PAGA Amendments Address Legislature’s Concerns, Not Employers’ Concerns
Authored by Simon L. Yang
When PAGA—California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004—was first enacted, we knew it would take years to see how it would be applied. Twelve years (and over $30 million in penalties paid to the state) later, we thought we’d have more answers. But many California employers, attorneys, and judges, now all too familiar
Continue Reading PAGA 101: Tired of Stupid Answers? Time to Ask the Stupid Questions
Authored by Simon L. Yang
As discussed by our Consumer Class Defense Blog, this week’s Supreme Court decision in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia reversed a California Court of Appeal that had applied the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act’s prohibition of class waivers in arbitration agreements. According to the lower court’s decision, an arbitration agreement’s terms—directing application of the “law
Continue Reading Supreme Court Airs Re-Run on Class Waivers in DirecTV But Disappoints Again by Declining PAGA Waiver Programming
Authored by Simon L. Yang
California employers had reason to celebrate over the weekend, as Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation to curb frivolous “PAGA” lawsuits alleging noncompliance with itemized wage statement requirements in California Labor Code section 226(a). Unlike when they woke up last Friday, employers now have a means to avoid PAGA lawsuits alleging that wage statements lacked either
Continue Reading A Cure for PAGA? At Least for Some Frivolous Wage Statement Claims
Authored by Emily Barker
This week, in Sakkab, et al v. Luxottica Retail North America, Inc., the Ninth Circuit ruled that an employee cannot waive the right to bring a representative action under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) through an arbitration agreement or any other means. In so doing, it found the California Supreme Court’s “Iskanian
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit’s Pro-PAGA Decision Is Not the Death Knell for Class Waivers in Arbitration Agreements
Co-authored by David D. Kadue and Simon L. Yang
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, the Court declined to take the case of CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC v. Iskanian, in which an employer asked the Court to reverse a ruling of the California Supreme Court. At issue was whether an employee who has agreed to submit all employment-related claims
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Referee Slugfest Between Federal and California Courts on Enforceability of Arbitration Agreements
Co-authored by Colleen Regan and David Kadue
Gentry is dead. Back in 2007, the California Supreme Court, in Gentry v. Superior Court held that California public policy favoring class actions was so important that employers cannot have employees, in arbitration agreements, waive their right to pursue a class action. Many thought that the Gentry rule contradicted the Federal Arbitration Act,
Continue Reading BREAKING NEWS RE CALIFORNIA CLASS ACTION WAIVERS: GENTRY IS DEAD; LONG LIVE PAGA.
Co-authored by Christina F. Jackson and Julie G. Yap
While employers have been waiting patiently for the California Supreme Court’s decision regarding the enforceability of class and representative action waivers in arbitration agreements, last week, a California federal court jumped into the fray and held that state law rules are powerless against the broad preemptive power of the Federal
Continue Reading Preempt This! California Federal Court Holds that Federal Law Preempts State Law Rules Against Waivers in Arbitration Agreements