Employee claims California company denied the right to use sick leave, failed to pay at correct rate
California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (HWHFA) generally requires employers to give eligible employees at least three paid sick days per year. The law can impose compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and civil penalties on violators.
Under section 248.5(e) of the HWHFA, a person attempting to enforce the section “on behalf of the public as provided for under applicable state law” should be entitled only to equitable, injunctive, or restitutionary relief if they succeed in their attempt.
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals – the defendant in the case of Wood v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals – owned and operated hospitals and medical facilities across California. The plaintiff, an employee paid by hourly wages, filed a lawsuit against Kaiser.
The plaintiff asked for penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) for the employer’s alleged violations of the HWHFA. She said that she was an aggrieved employee who could act on the state’s behalf and who could collect civil penalties for violations against fellow aggrieved Kaiser employees in California.
The plaintiff claimed that Kaiser:
Kaiser filed a demurrer. It argued that the HWHFA did not authorize PAGA...
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