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Will the Door to Mass Claims Close?

Publication | 01.10.23

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

Insights

Publication | 01.15.25

Administrative Law: Big Shifts in Administrative Law

As companies consider taking class actions to trial, a blockbuster decision from the U.S. Supreme Court instructing lower courts not to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of the statutes Congress charged them with administering may prove useful. Companies should also be aware of a second decision holding agencies’ use of in-house judges to mete out civil penalties to be unconstitutional....