The Case For A PAGA Adequacy Requirement

In Arias v. Superior Court, 46 Cal. 4th 969 (2009), the California Supreme Court ruled that Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions need not satisfy class action requirements, and in the fourteen years since, PAGA plaintiffs have routinely (and often successfully) resisted attempts to apply class action principles to PAGA actions. A recent unpublished California Court of Appeal decision bucks that trend by lending support for an implied adequacy requirement for PAGA plaintiffs and counsel.

In Stone v. Kim, 2023 WL 8011417 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 20, 2023), the California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a PAGA claim brought by a plaintiff who sought to prosecute the action in pro per. As the Court explained, a PAGA plaintiff represents the interests of the state labor enforcement agency, so by proceeding in pro per, the plaintiff (who was not an attorney) was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. Therefore, the trial court properly sustained the