Uber: PAGA Plaintiff No Different Than A Member of the General Public

E.

Uber further argues that a PAGA plaintiff, upon arbitrating personally sustained Labor Code violations, stands in no different position than a member of the general public with regard to non-individual claims.

“General public” standing once existed under the UCL and allowed individuals with no ties to the unlawful conduct to bring suit. (Kim, supra, 9 Cal.5th at p. 90.) In order to curb abusive litigation, the Legislature designed PAGA standing to be narrower than general public standing. (Kim, at p. 90.)

An “aggrieved employee” under PAGA is not merely a member of the general public; an “aggrieved employee” is an individual who worked for the alleged violator and personally sustained at least one Labor Code violation. (§ 2699, subd. (c); see Kim, at p. 90, quoting Sen. Com. on Judiciary, Analysis of Sen. Bill No. 796 (2003–2004 Reg. Sess.) as amended Apr. 22, 2003, p. 7.)

An employee who has met these requirements upon bringing a PAGA action does not lose standing to litigate non-individual claims by virtue of being compelled to arbitrate individual claims. This is true even if the employee obtains redress for individual claims in arbitration. (See Kim, at p. 84.)