PAGA allows employees to bring representative action on state's behalf to enforce labor laws
The California Court of Appeal has said that a former employee who settled her first lawsuit, based on individual and class claims, with her ex-employer could still bring a second lawsuit under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA).
In Howitson v. Evans Hotels, LLC et al., the plaintiff worked as a room service server for Evans Hotels, LLC and The Lodge at Torrey Pines Partnership, L.P. for about a month.
She filed an individual and putative class action lawsuit against her former employer. She alleged various violations of the Labor Code and unfair competition laws. The employer served her with an arbitration demand and an offer to compromise for $1,500 plus attorney fees. She accepted this offer. The trial court entered judgment for the plaintiff in her individual capacity.
Around 10 days after accepting the offer, the plaintiff filed a PAGA action, based on the same facts the first lawsuit cited.
The employer filed a demurrer. It argued that the rule of claim preclusion barred the second suit as a result of the judgment in the first suit and that the plaintiff strategically chose not to pursue PAGA claims in the first suit. The trial court sustained the employer’s demurrer.
The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division One reversed the trial court’s judgment. According to the appellate court, the requirements for claim preclusion were not present...
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