Gunther v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 72 Cal. App. 5th 334 (2021)
Summary: Heightened civil penalties under Labor Code section 226.3 ($250 & $1,000) do not apply to all violations of section 226, only when the employer entirely fails to furnish a wage statement or keep required records.
Facts: Plaintiffs, flight attendants for Defendant Alaska Airlines, Inc., brought suit under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) alleging that Defendant failed to provide wage statements compliant with Labor Code section 226(a). The trial court concluded that Defendant’s wage statements did not comply with section 226(a). The court found Defendant liable for more than $25 million in heightened penalties under Labor Code section 226.3, which provides that “[a]ny employer who violates subdivision (a) of Section 226 shall be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per employee per violation in an initial citation and one thousand dollars ($1,000) per employee for each violation in a subsequent citation, for which the employer fails to provide the employee a wage deduction statement or fails to keep the records required in subdivision (a) of Section 226.” Defendant appealed, arguing that section 226(a) could not be applied to flight attendants because it is preempted by federal law, and that heightened penalties under section 226.3 were inapplicable because such penalties are only triggered when an employer entirely fails to...
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