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ARTICLE · 12 SEPTEMBER 2025

PAGA Plaintiffs Are Losing Their Heads!

Greenberg Traurig
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Out in the cold, dark night rides the headless horseman, and he has a grievance.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Timothy Long
Timothy Long

Out in the cold, dark night rides the headless horseman, and he has a grievance. It is with his former employer who he thinks (with his head in hand) has treated his former colleagues poorly and violated the California Labor Code. Though he no longer can help himself in court as he has signed an arbitration agreement, he selflessly seeks to litigate for others among that headcount. But how to press such claims as he no longer can be counted among them? In court? Alas, no, he signed that arbitration agreement. What to do? "PAGA," groans a voice in the mist. "PAGA." But how?

With a nod to creative thinking, a number of PAGA plaintiffs' lawyers have filed what are known as "headless" PAGA lawsuits: PAGA plaintiffs who have signed arbitration agreements with their employers draft their complaints to disavow a potential individual recovery that would need to be arbitrated and seek only relief in court for the other allegedly aggrieved employees, and not for the

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