Same claim can be brought against you only once

As the name shows, a private attorney general action is brought to you in the name of the attorney general, not the individual employee. The attorney general can sue you over the same thing only once, no matter how many employees line up to make the claim. As shown by the case below, a court- approved settlement of the earliest claim should preclude any further claim over the same issue.

First come, first served

Dave & Buster’s of California, Inc. and Dave & Buster’s, Inc. operate several restaurants throughout the state. Lauren Brown worked at Dave & Buster’s Westchester location from November 2016 to April 2018. In June 2019, she filed a representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) action against Dave & Buster’s, alleging it failed to provide meal periods, rest periods, vacation pay, and wage statements and that it routinely required its employees to work off the clock. She sought civil penalties for alleged violations of various provisions of the labor code.

But Brown wasn’t the first Dave & Buster’s employee who filed a PAGA claim against it. Rather, numerous other employees had already done so across California, before Brown filed her case.