Class Action Wage and Hour Lawsuits Find New Hope under PAGA

Increasingly, courts have limited California employee’s rights to bring Class Action lawsuits regarding wage and hour lawsuits. These limits have resulted from a combination of pressures, not the least of which are some recent US Supreme Court decisions enforcing arbitration agreements that contained restrictions on the right to file class-action lawsuits.

So what’s an employee to do?  Danz & Associates always advise our clients in wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wage and hour (which usually means denial of overtime, meals and breaks as required by the California Labor Code) to consider filing under Labor Code’s “Private Attorney General Act” . This law was used only 759 times in 2005. Now, for 2013, the number has increased to 3,137 lawsuits statewide.  The law was first passed in 2004.

Under this “mini class action” law, which does not require court certification of a class, the average worker has received $12,000. We are pleased to report that the largest settlement to date was $29 Million. The state itself gets 75% of the recovery of these cases with PAGA members and their attorneys getting 25%. There are many unanswered questions under PAGA, but for now, its working well for California employees who are denied their basic rights under California wage and hour laws. In most of our cases, we file for recovery well beyond the PAGA limits, which includes causes of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, age, sex, race, national origin discrimination and whistleblowing, and the inevitable retaliation that follows.

Stephen Danz and Associates is a statewide California employee-side law firm. Call us for a free consultation and see why it always pays to go with the Big Guys! Two attorneys on every case, resources to properly fund the expenses needed to see your case through. So give us a call! Steve Danz 877 789 9707.