Your case may be unmanageable, but it’s going to trial!

California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) began as a dangerous statute to employers, and every court decision since has made it worse. A single plaintiff aggrieved by a $50 labor code violation can plead a $1,000,000 PAGA claim for any labor code violation regarding any employee. If that sounds to you to be too unmanageable to adjudicate, so did the trial court here. The California Supreme Court took a different view.

Employer called on the carpet

Jorge Luis Estrada worked for Royalty Carpet Mills in Orange County, and he filed an Orange County Superior Court complaint against his employer alleging various claims. He asserted that Royalty violated labor code provisions requiring that it provide first and second meal periods, and he sought PAGA penalties for various alleged labor code violations. Thereafter, 12 other plaintiffs joined in an amended complaint, which alleged a total of seven class claims, including those based on the failure to provide first and second meal periods, and one which sought PAGA penalties for various labor code violations. Several plaintiffs asked the court for a class certification in June 2017, a request granted by the trial court.

The court held a bench trial of live testimony from 12 of the 13 named plaintiffs, deposition testimony from four different managers and officers of Royalty, live testimony from two of Royalty’s HR employees, and live testimony from an expert witness. In defense, Royalty presented testimony from two former employees and an expert witness.