You can't force arbitration over whether claimant is 'aggrieved employee'

The California Court of Appeal recently held that an employee's class action suit under the state's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) couldn't be separated into individual and representative components. The plaintiff in the case filed a PAGA action seeking civil penalties for multiple Labor Code violations. The employer argued that because PAGA is available only to "aggrieved employees" and there was a dispute over the plaintiff's employee status, the issue of whether he was an employee should be submitted to an arbitrator under the parties' arbitration agreement. The court disagreed, finding that to separate the worker's suit into individual and representative claims would defy logic and harm the state's interest in enforcing its Labor Code.

Worker alleges misclassification

Jonathan Provost filed suit on behalf of himself, other "aggrieved employees" of YourMechanic, Inc., and the people of the state of California, seeking civil penalties under PAGA for violations of multiple Labor Code provisions. Among the myriad alleged violations was an allegation that YourMechanic "willfully misclassified" Provost and others as independent contractors.