Last week, former CDF Labor Law attorney, and current CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce (“Cal Chamber”), Jennifer Barrera, published a compelling argument surrounding the issues concerning the California Private Attorney General Act and a ballot measure on the Act coming up next year. California Law Helping Workers File Labor Claims Needs Reform - Advocacy - California Chamber of Commerce (calchamber.com). According to Ms. Barrera’s article, over the last six years, attorneys representing employees on PAGA claims obtained an eight billion dollars in PAGA settlements from California employers-- an astonishing amount. Ms. Barrera’s article also indicates that despite this number, individual employees receive a pittance from these actions. The article cited to a 2019 report from former California Labor Commissioner Julie Su and other officials of the California Labor Commissioner’s office that expressly provided that “The substantial majority of proposed private court settlements in PAGA cases review by [the Labor Commissioner’s office] fell short of protecting the interests of the state and workers.“
Ms. Barrera and the Chamber indicate that more than 1/3 of the settlement amounts end up in the hands of the attorneys while individual workers often barely benefit from these claims, because the settlements are generally spread out between all the aggrieved employees.
To remedy this issue, Cal Chamber has helped to place a ballot measure on the 2024 ballot that will...
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