Labor/Employment
Nov. 25, 2025
Battle over 'headless' PAGA cases lands before California Supreme Court
Plaintiffs' attorneys are increasingly sidestepping arbitration by filing so-called "headless" PAGA cases that omit individual claims -- a strategy that has produced a sharp split among California's appellate courts. Now the state Supreme Court has stepped in on its own motion to resolve whether workers may pursue non-individual PAGA claims without filing on their own behalf. The outcome could reshape labor litigation and invite renewed scrutiny from the U.S. Supreme Court.
A tactic used by plaintiffs' attorneys to avoid arbitration in Private Attorneys General Act lawsuits--by declining to file individual claims and instead suing on behalf of current and former coworkers--has sharply divided state appellate courts.
It has stirred concerns -- including 2nd District Court of Appeal Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt's warning about the creation of a class of 'professional PAGA plaintiffs' -- and prompted the California Supreme Court to take th...
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