Help Us Stop PAGA Trial Attorneys from Harming CA Businesses!

In 2004, the California Legislature passed the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), allowing aggrieved employees to hire private attorneys to act on behalf of the State, file lawsuits against their employer for any violation of the California Labor code, and recover penalties. Violations can include minor technical mistakes like pay stubs missing the start or end date of the pay period, or incorrectly documenting meal and rest breaks.

To no surprise, trial attorneys are exploiting employees to bring frivolous PAGA lawsuits against California businesses. Often times, they keep up to 40% of the of the employees' award, which can be worth millions of dollars.

To put this in perspective, from 2010 to 2014 alone, over 30,000 PAGA notices were sent to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, with some lawsuits resulting in settlements as high as $90 million.

On July 13th, the California Supreme Court released its decision on the Williams v. Marshalls of CA case, requiring employers to turn over a broad array of company records in the early stages of a PAGA lawsuit. This unanimous decision will give trial attorneys far-reaching discovery powers, putting California businesses and employers at risk for millions of dollars more in penalties. (You can read more on the decision HERE.)

The decision makes it even more important that the business community come together to address PAGA's several threats to California employers. Our only option to fix the devastating PAGA law is through a statewide ballot measure, as the Legislature has shown time and time again that they are unwilling to commit to real reform.

The California Trucking Association needs your help fighting PAGA. Several of our members have been hit with PAGA lawsuits, costing them hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. If you haven't been hit with a PAGA lawsuit you may in the near future. Any contribution you can make from - $500 to $50,000 - to the Stop Shakedown Lawsuits campaign would be greatly appreciated.

In order for the trucking industry to have a large voice on the Stop Shakedown Lawsuits steering committee we need to be a large contributor.

Contact Eric Sauer (esauer@caltrux.org) and Marie Brichetto (marie@meridianhq.com) if you would like to join the campaign.