Supreme Court Considers Intersection Of PAGA And Arbitration

The U.S. Supreme Court considered California's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) recently, debating whether a plaintiff who filed suit under the statute could avoid the mandatory arbitration clause she signed as an employee of a cruise company because she was standing in the shoes of the state labor agency as a PAGA plaintiff.

A former sales representative of Viking River Cruises, Angie Moriana claimed the company violated several provisions of the California Labor Code.

Viking responded with a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to an arbitration clause in an employment agreement that Moriana signed while an employee. A trial court denied the motion, and an appellate panel affirmed.