As we have previously reported, one aspect of the 2024 reforms to the California Private Attorneys’ General Act (PAGA) was the California Legislature’s creation of a new procedure: the “Early Evaluation Conference.” According to the PAGA reform statute, employers with at least 100 employees can seek an Early Evaluation Conference (the Conference) within the time required to respond to the lawsuit to allow a neutral evaluator to decide a wide range of issues, including:

• Whether any of the alleged violations occurred and, if so, whether the defendant has cured the alleged violations.
• The strengths and weaknesses of the plaintiff’s claims and the defendant’s defenses.
• Whether the plaintiff’s claims, including any claim for penalties or injunctive relief, can be settled in whole or in part.
• Whether the parties should share other information that may facilitate early evaluation and resolution of the dispute.

Unfortunately, the legislature provided little clarity about the specific mechanics of the Early Evaluation Conference. As a result, companies hit with PAGA lawsuits hoping to utilize this mechanism are left to wonder about how to properly request a Conference, who can serve as a “neutral evaluator,” and how the Conference itself works.

It has been over a year since the reform took effect, and in this time, PAGA defendants have seen the Early Evaluation Conference be interpreted in vastly different ways.

Some courts simply refer the parties to a private mediator or a...

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