Opinion ID: 4161963
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: California’s Private Attorney General Act

Text: LWDA is assigned responsibility under California law for bringing actions to enforce the state’s labor laws. See, e.g., Caliber Bodyworks, Inc. v. Superior Court, 36 Cal. Rptr. 3d 31, 33 & 33 n.1 (Ct. App. 2005). In response to a concern that labor law enforcement agencies like LWDA “were unlikely to keep pace with the future growth of the labor market,” the California legislature passed PAGA. Arias v. Superior Court, 209 P.3d 923, 929 (Cal. 2009). Under PAGA, “civil penalt[ies] to be assessed and collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency . . . for a violation of th[e Labor] code, may, as an alternative, be recovered through a civil action brought by an aggrieved employee.” Cal. Lab. Code § 2699(a). To be eligible to file a claim under PAGA, an aggrieved employee must first submit his allegations of labor code violations to LWDA as well as to the employer. Id. § 2699.3(a)(1)(A). If LWDA does not respond or take action on the allegations within a certain period, the aggrieved employee is permitted to “commence a civil action pursuant to Section 2699.” Id. § 2699.3(a)(2)(A). 6 PORTER V. NABORS DRILLING USA If LWDA declines to intervene in a PAGA proceeding, the plaintiff “pursues the PAGA action in his own name, exercises complete control over the lawsuit, and is not restrained by any provision of the PAGA statute from settling or disposing of the claim as he sees fit.” 1 Nanavati v. Adecco USA, Inc., 99 F. Supp. 3d 1072, 1083 (N.D. Cal. 2015). As the California Supreme Court has explained, “[a]n employee plaintiff [bringing a PAGA claim] does so as the proxy or agent of the state’s labor law enforcement agencies” and “with the understanding that labor law enforcement agencies [are] to retain primacy over private enforcement efforts.” Arias, 209 P.3d at 933, 929–30. If successful, twenty-five percent of the civil penalties are distributed to the aggrieved employees, and the remaining seventy-five percent of the penalties go to LWDA. Cal. Lab. Code § 2699(i). The PAGA plaintiff is also entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Id. § 2699(g)(1). When looking at PAGA claims in the context of arbitration agreements, both the California Supreme Court and this court have concluded that “[a] PAGA representative action is . . . a type of qui tam action.” Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, 327 P.3d 129, 148 (Cal. 2014); see Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail N. Am., Inc., 803 F.3d 425, 429 (9th Cir. 2015). A qui tam action for citizen enforcement traditionally has three elements: “(1) that the statute exacts a penalty; (2) that part of the penalty be paid to the informer; and (3) that, in some way, the informer be authorized to bring suit to recover the penalty.” Iskanian, 1 LWDA has since expanded its oversight of PAGA litigation. For cases filed after July 1, 2016, aggrieved employees must submit to LWDA copies of their filed complaints, proposed settlement agreements, and court orders denying an award of civil penalties. Cal. Lab. Code § 2699(l)(1)–(3). PORTER V. NABORS DRILLING USA 7 327 P.3d at 148 (quoting Sanders v. Pac. Gas & Elec. Co., 126 Cal. Rptr. 415, 421 (Ct. App. 1975)).