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PAGA Employment Claims After New Legislative Reform: Standing, Penalties, Arbitration, Cure Provisions

Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Conducted on Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Recorded event now available

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This CLE course will advise employment counsel on claims brought under California's Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) and the impact of new legislative changes affecting claims made on or after June 19, 2024. The panel will discuss the reach and limitations of representative claims brought under PAGA including violations giving rise to PAGA claims, the procedural requirements involved in bringing a PAGA action, standing issues under PAGA, the effect of arbitration agreements, the relationship between PAGA and class claims, potential defenses and new employer cure provisions, and civil penalty exposure. The panel will also address best practices for preventing, defending, and resolving PAGA claims.

Description

PAGA authorizes current and former employees who claim to have experienced Labor Code violations to act as private attorneys general and to recover civil penalties on behalf of the state of California, themselves, and other current and former employees. For years, this has resulted in a steady stream of representative PAGA lawsuits each year, with hundreds of millions of dollars in potential penalties at stake.

However, on July 1, 2024, two new bills significantly reforming PAGA were signed into law that affect PAGA claims filed on or after June 19, 2024. The new laws include, among other changes, more stringent standing requirements, expanded employer cure provisions, and limits on PAGA penalties in certain situations.

Employers' counsel must be aware of the potential, significant civil penalty exposure arising from PAGA claims as well as expanded opportunities to "cure" certain violations. Employees' counsel will need to understand PAGA's administrative exhaustion and more stringent standing requirements, how to undertake discovery in potentially sprawling actions, and how PAGA actions have been impacted by the new legislation and recent cases.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses PAGA and the impact the recent legislative reform will have on employers and employees. The panel will address the elements of establishing a claim and offer best practices for employers to mitigate risk and exposure to PAGA lawsuits.

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Outline

  1. Representative lawsuits under PAGA
    1. Nature of PAGA
    2. Pre-filing requirements
    3. Potential PAGA plaintiffs and defendants
  2. Recent legislative reforms to PAGA
  3. Litigating PAGA actions
    1. Effect of prior arbitration and settlement agreements
    2. Scope of representative claims and manageability of PAGA actions
    3. Discovery and other procedural issues in PAGA litigation
    4. Potential damages
  4. Resolving PAGA claims
    1. Evaluating potential liability/recovery
    2. Unique settlement procedures
  5. Practitioner takeaways

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • Recent PAGA changes and the impact on counsel for employees and employers
  • Unique pre-lawsuit exhaustion requirements for employees and cure procedures for employers
  • Employee standing and the scope of their representative capacity
  • The effect of arbitration and settlement agreements
  • Common PAGA claims and litigation issues
  • Evaluating penalty exposure and successfully resolving PAGA claims

Faculty

Lebel, Philippe
Philippe A. Lebel

Senior Counsel
Proskauer Rose

Mr. Lebel represents employers in all aspects of employment litigation, including wage and hour, wrongful termination,...  |  Read More

Slowik, Jonathan P.
Jonathan P. Slowik

Special Employment Law Counsel
Proskauer Rose

Mr. Slowik represents employers in all aspects of litigation, with a particular emphasis in wage and hour class,...  |  Read More

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