Issue
In Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC,
(Cal. Ct. App., Sept. 9, 2021, No. B302988) 2021 WL 4099059,
Division Four of the Second Appellate District of the California
Court of Appeal tackled an issue of first impression: "whether
trial courts have inherent authority to ensure that PAGA claims
will be manageable at trial, and to strike such claims if they
cannot be managed." (Id. at *1.)
Result
After drawing on established principles of the courts'
inherent authority to manage litigation, including ensuring the
manageability of representative claims, the Court of Appeal
concluded that "courts have inherent authority to ensure that
PAGA claims can be fairly and efficiently tried and, if necessary,
may strike claims that cannot be rendered manageable" and
"as a matter of due process, defendants are entitled to a fair
opportunity to litigate available affirmative defenses, and a
court's manageability assessment should account for
them..." (Id. at
