‘Headless PAGA’ Ruling Review Ordered By California Justices

California Supreme Court justices ordered on their own motion a review of a December opinion that cast doubt on an emerging strategy to avoid arbitration termed, “headless PAGA,” when employees bring claims solely on behalf of an employee group.

The justices unanimously denied a request to depublish the lower court opinion in Leeper v. Shipt, which found in December that cases brought under California’s unique labor law, the Private Attorneys General Act, inherently include individual claims that may be pushed into arbitration. California workers bring the cases to enforce state labor code on behalf of themselves and a group ...