California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) allows an employee “aggrieved” by a violation of state’s wage, hour, and wage payment law to obtain civil penalties “on behalf of himself and other current or former employees.” The aggrieved employee must first inform the state of her proceeding and, if successful, can secure civil penalties scheduled according to the number and length of time of the violations: 75% of the penalties going to the state, 25% to be distributed to the employees affected by the violations. Those employees are not parties to the proceeding nor are they entitled to any damages tailored to their violations.
Angie Moriana was a sales representative for Viking River Cruises. She was subject to an agreement providing that the exclusive forum to hear employment disputes was arbitration, but the agreement prohibited her from bringing any “class, collective or representative PAGA action.” She sued Viking in state court for violation of wage payment law and sought scheduled PAGA penalties for herself and for other employees: violations of overtime, meal and rest periods, improper pay statements. Viking moved to compel arbitration limited to Ms. Moriana’s personal claims. According to Viking, she could not bring claims representative of other employees, which precluded the presentation of any PAGA penalties, for her or others. The courts denied the motion under governing California law and Viking sought review in the U.S. Supreme Court on this...
False sexual or rape allegations can have devastating consequences for the accused, including reputational damage, loss of employment and emotional trauma. In Nigeria, current legislation focuses ...