https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary Defense-side commentary on PAGA, wage-and-hour law, and the 2024 reform era — from a California employment defense practice. en-us Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/doss-v-tesla-when-the-faa-s-own-exemption-sends-the-whole-case-back-to-court https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/doss-v-tesla-when-the-faa-s-own-exemption-sends-the-whole-case-back-to-court Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan Arbitration FAA Labor Code § 229 Court of Appeal A Tesla yard hostler who moved trailers on factory grounds was held a transportation worker exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act — and with the FAA out, Labor Code section 229 kept the wage claims and the representative PAGA action in court. Arbitration programs built without a section 1 audit are carrying risk their drafters never priced. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/martinez-v-sierra-lifestar-certification-denials-don-t-survive-a-formulaic-pay https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/martinez-v-sierra-lifestar-certification-denials-don-t-survive-a-formulaic-pay Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan Class Certification Regular Rate Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal reversed a class certification denial in a regular-rate case, holding the typicality analysis legally erroneous. The lesson runs in both directions: a payroll-configuration error is classwide by nature, and the defense that treats damage variation as a typicality shield is building on sand. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-leeper-holding-pattern-running-a-defense-while-headless-paga-waits-for-fall https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-leeper-holding-pattern-running-a-defense-while-headless-paga-waits-for-fall Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan PAGA Arbitration Supreme Court Leeper Leeper v. Shipt is fully briefed, two companion cases are held behind it, and the court's published calendar makes fall 2026 the earliest window for a decision. What defense counsel does during the wait will determine what the decision is worth when it arrives. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/two-years-in-the-reform-s-numbers-have-arrived-and-its-provisions-are-still https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/two-years-in-the-reform-s-numbers-have-arrived-and-its-provisions-are-still Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan PAGA Reform AB 2288 SB 92 LWDA Data June 19, 2026 marked two years since AB 2288 and SB 92 took effect. The filing data now shows the first sustained decline; the LWDA's first-ever PAGA regulations are through their public hearing; and no published appellate decision has yet construed a single reform provision. Each of those facts changes how the next PAGA notice should be handled. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/leeper-v-shipt-what-the-grant-of-review-means-for-headless-paga-claims https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/leeper-v-shipt-what-the-grant-of-review-means-for-headless-paga-claims Sun, 15 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan PAGA Arbitration Supreme Court The California Supreme Court's grant of review puts the viability of 'headless' PAGA claims squarely at issue. The answer will determine whether Viking River's arbitration framework can be circumvented through strategic claim abandonment. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-hohenshelt-practical-playbook-what-to-do-when-you-ve-already-lost https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-hohenshelt-practical-playbook-what-to-do-when-you-ve-already-lost Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan Arbitration CCP § 1281.98 Supreme Court Hohenshelt killed strict-liability forfeiture for late arbitration fee payments. But the decision does more than save future cases — it may rescue arbitration rights that were already declared forfeited. https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/twenty-months-in-are-the-2024-paga-penalty-caps-actually-being-applied https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/twenty-months-in-are-the-2024-paga-penalty-caps-actually-being-applied Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan PAGA Reform AB 2288 SB 92 Penalty Caps AB 2288 and SB 92 created the most significant shift in PAGA defense strategy since 2004. But twenty months after enactment, no published appellate decision has interpreted the reform provisions. What do we know about how they are working in practice? https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-commission-forfeiture-theory-nobody-s-raising-and-why-every-dealership https://www.arthurkaradzhyan.com/commentary/the-commission-forfeiture-theory-nobody-s-raising-and-why-every-dealership Sun, 15 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Arthur Karadzhyan Commissions Sciborski Automotive Novel Theory Why a theory this strong stays out of complaints, and what a dealership should do before a plaintiff's firm finally reads Sciborski closely. The pay-plan language, the exposure arithmetic, and the fix that closes it.