Recent Employment Law Decisions

California Supreme Court

Employees Do Not Lose Standing to Pursue PAGA Claims if They Settle and Dismiss Their Individual Labor Code Claims

KIM v. REINS

Plaintiff Justin Kim worked for Defendant Reins as a restaurant training manager. Kim filed a class action for various Labor Code violations, claiming Reins had misclassified him and others as exempt and failed to pay them overtime. Reins moved to compel arbitration of Kim’s individual claims, dismiss the class claims, and stay the PAGA action pending the arbitration. The trial court granted the motion. Several months later, Kim and Reins settled the individual claims, leaving only the PAGA action. Reins then moved for summary adjudication of the PAGA claim on the ground that Kim no longer had standing because he was no longer an aggrieved employee now that his rights had been redressed by settlement of his claims. The trial court agreed and entered judgment for Reins, and the Court of Appeal affirmed. Kim sought review.

PAGA’S DEFINITION OF “AGGRIEVED EMPLOYEE” DOES NOT REQUIRE A CURRENT ECONOMIC INJURY

The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) provides for additional civil penalties for certain Labor Code violations, which plaintiffs may seek on behalf of the state. Only an “aggrieved employee” may seek PAGA penalties. An aggrieved employee is a person who was employed by the alleged violator and against whom one or more of the alleged violations was committed. Because PAGA was intended to protect employees its provisions are construed broadly and in favor of protection. Section 2699(c)

has only two standing requirements, that the person be employed by the alleged violator, and that one or more of the alleged violations was committed against him. Kim satisfied both and was therefore an aggrieved employee. Reins conceded that Kim had standing when he sued but argued Kim lost standing when he settled and dismissed his individual claims. Settlement is a remedy for violations but does not nullify those violations. Since the PAGA statute does not require an employee to assert an economic injury, Reins’ definition of aggrieved employee was at odds with the statute. PAGA standing is not inextricably linked to the plaintiff’s individual injury.

CELA INVOLVEMENT

Congratulations to CELA member Eric Kingsley of Kingsley & Kingsley, APC!  Thank you to CELA members Aaron Kaufmann for his Amicus Brief for CELA and Cynthia Rice for her Amicus Brief for CRLA!

CA Supreme Court. 3/12/20. 9 Cal.5th 73. Opinion by Justice Corrigan.

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Message from the Chair
By Elizabeth Riles, Esq., CELA Chair

Hello CELAmates,

Elizabeth Riles

I hope you are all doing well during these difficult, abnormal times. I want to let you know what CELA has been doing to rise to the challenge. As soon as COVID-19 became an emergency in California, the staff, and members of CELA kicked into high gear creating resources for both workers and our members.

Our social media and blog posts have had historic engagement – reaching tens of thousands of Californians since mid-March. In fact, a singular CELA Facebook post, focused on worker rights vis-à-vis school closures, has garnered 12,000 views. That content was part of a larger piece for CELA Voice, written by Andy Katz, that has since been translated into Chinese and Spanish, by Ken Wang and Megan Beaman, respectively. Additionally, several CELA members have recorded short “Know Your Rights” videos for California residents struggling with the economic impact of COVID-19. Thank you to Ella Hushagen, Lauren Teukolsky, Pinky Ghuman, Jennifer Kramer, Erin Pulaski, and Nina Baumler for making these great recordings. Thank you also to Andy Katz, Sarah Schlehr, and V. James DeSimone for the comprehensive articles.

Our committees have also been working hard to produce content for our members and the community. This is just a couple of examples of all the great work CELA committees are up to. The Diversity Committee, in place of the two Diversity Summits, is working on providing a series of workshops for new graduates and law students. The workshops will empower them to interact with CELA members and get advice about these trying times, as

well as specifically talking to members who graduated during the last recession. If you are interested in participating, please let me know. The Practice Management and Education committees have been extremely busy putting together a variety of SuiteTalks for members about what you need to work from home and what we as lawyer-employers need to know during this time. The latest seminar was A Review of Workers Rights, Leave Laws, and Practicing Law in a Pandemic, a three-hour master class on COVID-19 laws hosted on Monday, April 27, 2020.

These programs will be available for attorney members to view by logging on to MY CELA. Also, we have put all of the content and resources together – for you and the public – onto a new COVID-19 landing page on the CELA website. Please do check it out. It has links to COVID-19-related webinars, court closure information, a list of mediators who use video-conferencing technology, support for lawyers going through difficult times, and more.

CELA will continue to work for you during this crisis. I am still encouraging you to reach out to me and CELA staff to let us know how we can help you during this difficult time. Also, reach out if you just need to see a friendly face via Zoom or hear a friendly voice on the phone. We are in this together and we are here for you.

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