Will the Door to Mass Claims Close?

A series of recent California Supreme Court decisions has led to an explosion of PAGA claims in state and federal courts

A recent NDCA court decision left the door open to future mass claims under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, despite a June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that some hoped would spell the end of this burgeoning area of litigation, says Crowell & Moring partner Christopher Banks.

PAGA, enacted in 2004, allows workers to act as state labor code enforcers, in a sense “deputizing” them to bring claims on behalf of themselves along with other employees. The law imposes penalties of up to $100 for each initial violation and up to $200 for each subsequent violation, and plaintiffs routinely ask for tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in penal­ties in PAGA cases. Defendants may also have to cover plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees.

Read the complete article in the Litigation Forecast 2023.