Does an employee have the right to a jury trial in a PAGA suit?
Not according to a recent California appellate panel decision in a suit brought by a cashier at Ralphs Grocery Company.
Jill La Face alleged that Ralphs violated a wage order that requires employers to provide suitable seating when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats, or for a job where standing is required, to provide seating for employee use when their use does not interfere with an employee’s duties.
Ralphs moved for a bench trial. The trial court granted the motion and held a 12-day bench trial, featuring testimony on both sides from ergonomics experts and Ralphs employees and supervisors.
The trial court found that Ralphs had not violated the applicable wage order because the evidence showed that even when lulls occurred in a cashier’s primary duties, the cashiers were still required to move about the store fulfilling various other tasks.
La Face appealed, but the panel affirmed.
Under California law, the right to a jury trial may be afforded by statute or pursuant to the state constitution, which preserves the right as it existed at common law in 1850. Courts look to the “gist” of the action to determine whether a jury right is available, the panel explained, “whether the nature of the rights involved and the facts of the particular case show that it is legal and therefore cognizable at law.”
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