New Life For California Arbitration Agreements

Nearly eight years after the California Supreme Court held that employee arbitration agreements do not apply to claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), the U.S. Supreme Court provided a bit of good news to California employers last week. Following the Court's decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, employers with arbitration agreements can require employees to arbitrate their individual PAGA claims, and—at least for now—seek dismissal of PAGA claims brought on behalf of other employees.

Under PAGA, an employee can act as an agent of the state to bring suit for civil penalties "on behalf of himself or herself and other current or former employees." PAGA requires only that the employee experience a single alleged labor code violation in order to sue for other alleged violations experienced by different employees. PAGA claims pose special challenges for employers, both because of the expansive number of potential employees that can