The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case that could prevent employees in California from enforcing labor law violations against their employers as the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) comes under scrutiny.
In Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, the Supreme Court will decide the fate of PAGA, a California statute that was enacted in 2003. According to a report from the UCLA Labor Center (LC), the state established PAGA, an “innovative model for enforcing workplace rights,” to allow workers to bring a representative action in the name of the state and recover civil penalties for violations of the California Labor Code, even if they’ve signed “a forced arbitration agreement.”
PAGA cases are reportedly “effective” since it has allowed the state to collect millions of dollars in penalties from “lawbreaking employers” who would otherwise profit from exploiting workers, UCLA LC reported. In 2019, the state collected over $88 million in penalties.
“The reason PAGA is such a critical enforcement tool is because of the rise of mandatory arbitration, where employees are forced to give up their right to go to court to enforce wage or discrimination disputes as a condition of employment,” The American Prospect commented.
As explained by UCLA LC, before workers can initiate a civil action through PAGA, they must file their claim with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and pay a filing fee. Within 65 days, the LWDA may agree to investigate and prosecute...
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