Case Law Laboratory
Twelve decisions. Each one changed how PAGA defense is practiced. From Kirby's foundational distinction between wages and penalties to Hohenshelt's reversal of five years of strict-liability authority.
Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc.
The arbitration playbook changed overnight. Individual claims go to arbitration, but the representative PAGA action stays in court — and the plaintiff keeps standing. Defense pivot...
Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc.
Courts cannot dismiss PAGA on manageability grounds — but they can narrow scope dramatically. AB 2288 codified this in § 2699(p). This is where multi-location, multi-classification...
Donohue v. AMN Services, Inc.
Every short meal punch in the time-clock data now creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer failed to provide a compliant meal period. Rounding cannot be used to round awa...
Hohenshelt v. Superior Court
Five years of strict-liability appellate authority — reversed. Late arbitration fee payment no longer means automatic forfeiture. The 5-2 majority disapproved Gallo, Espinoza, De L...
Leeper v. Shipt, Inc.
Can a plaintiff abandon their individual claims after arbitration and still pursue PAGA on behalf of others? The Supreme Court took this case on its own motion. The answer will res...
Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, Inc.
Meal and rest period premiums must be calculated at the regular rate — not base hourly. Applied retroactively. For employees with commissions or bonuses, the gap between base and r...
Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc.
The § 226.7 premium is a wage, not a penalty. It cannot be recovered as a PAGA penalty. This distinction alone can reduce inflated demands by 30–50%. The foundation of every recove...
Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court
An employer who provides the opportunity for an uninterrupted 30-minute meal period has complied — even if employees voluntarily worked through. But Donohue’s rebuttable presumptio...
ZB, N.A. v. Superior Court
PAGA recovers civil penalties. Wages are not civil penalties. Overtime underpayments, meal premiums, unreimbursed expenses — none are recoverable through PAGA as penalties. The sin...
Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc.
One missed meal period now generates four separate penalty streams: the premium itself, a PAGA default penalty, a § 226 wage statement penalty, and § 203 waiting time penalties. Th...
Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California
Flat-sum bonuses must be divided by nonovertime hours only — not total hours. This produces a higher regular rate, increasing both overtime premiums and (after Ferra) meal/rest pre...
Duran v. U.S. Bank National Assn.
Statistical sampling must satisfy due process. The sample must be representative, the methodology sound, and the defendant must retain the right to challenge individual claims. The...