Following Iskanian v. CLS Transportation (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, this decision holds that the trial court correctly refused to compel arbitration of this suit which the plaintiff employee brought solely under PAGA (the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004) for civil penalties and statutory remedies based on the defendant employer’s failure to pay minimum wages, provide rest breaks and provide proper wage stubs. The trial court also properly refused to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s individual PAGA claim. Even if a PAGA claim may be brought on an individual basis, it is still a claim by the state, not by the private attorney general, and so cannot be governed by a private agreement to arbitrate.
Trial court correctly refused to compel arbitration of this suit which the plaintiff employee brought solely under PAGA (the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004), since even if a PAGA claim may be brought on an individual basis, it is still a claim by the state, not by the private attorney general, and so cannot be governed by a private agreement to arbitrate.