Good-faith fixes and minimal harm gave the dental maker a near-total penalty break

A California dental maker faced nearly $56 million in claimed wage penalties. A court cut it to about $516,000 - and that held up.

That is the practical takeaway from a published California appellate ruling that should steady the nerves of employers worried about runaway penalties under the state's Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA. The law lets an employee sue over Labor Code violations on behalf of the state and fellow workers, and the numbers can climb fast.

The case began when Abraham Taduran, a former employee, sued James R. Glidewell, Dental Ceramics, Inc. over a run of wage-and-hour problems. By the time of trial, the company's liability was settled. Glidewell stipulated to one violation, underpaid rest periods, and the court had already decided three others against it on summary adjudication: incomplete wage statements, underpaid overtime tied to what the parties called "uptime" pay, and non-discretionary bonuses left out of the regular pay rate. The only question left was how much the company should pay.

On paper, the exposure was enormous. Taduran calculated the maximum PAGA penalties at $55,985,350. The trial court was not persuaded. It awarded about $516,000, which the court described as less than 1% of what Taduran sought.

Why the steep cut? The court pointed to facts that matter to any HR leader managing compliance. The wage statement errors caused no lost wages, and...

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