The employer had successfully compelled individual PAGA claims to arbitration, but the arbitration fees were paid 14 days late due to a holiday-period administrative processing delay. Plaintiff moved to vacate the order under CCP § 1281.98, citing the then-universal appellate authority holding that any late payment — regardless of reason — automatically forfeited arbitration rights. The California Supreme Court decided Hohenshelt v. Superior Court (2025) 18 Cal.5th 310 while the motion was pending. The supplemental brief I drafted applied Hohenshelt's equitable framework: the majority opinion required forfeiture only for willful, grossly negligent, or fraudulent nonpayment. The brief distinguished every unfavorable appellate authority that Hohenshelt had disapproved — Gallo, Espinoza, De Leon, Williams, Doe v. Superior Court, Colon-Perez, and Sanders — and demonstrated through internal communications and payment records that the 14-day delay was attributable to a holiday-period invoice processing failure, not strategic conduct. The court adopted the analysis and denied the motion to vacate.
Appellate Authority
Car Wash Operators — Arbitration
Applied newly decided California Supreme Court authority to defeat a motion to vacate an order compelling arbitration.
The Transferable Point
Hohenshelt replaced the automatic-forfeiture rule with an equitable framework requiring willful, grossly negligent, or fraudulent nonpayment. Administrative payment delays — holiday processing, invoice routing errors, bank transfer timing — are now defensible if documented contemporaneously. The key is preserving the internal communications that show the delay was bureaucratic, not strategic.
Methods Applied
- Real-time monitoring of pending California Supreme Court authority
- Supplemental briefing incorporating Hohenshelt within days of publication
- Systematic distinction of every disapproved appellate authority
- Internal communications and payment records as evidence of non-willful delay
- Equitable framework application to holiday-period processing failure
Governing Authorities
Motion Denied
This matter description is for illustrative purposes only. Details have been generalized to protect client confidentiality. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.