LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A plumbing and heating company won't have to deal with a lawsuit brought under California's Private Attorneys General Act, which allows employees to bring suit on behalf of the State and opens businesses to civil penalties.
The Second Appellate District on Sept. 2 ruled against Jerome Oswald and his lawyers at Justice Law Corporation, finding a collective bargaining agreement clearly sends his dispute to arbitration.
The CBA satisfied three requirements to deny a construction worker the right to bring a PAGA suit, the court ruled. It had a grievance and arbitration procedure to redress alleged Labor Code violations, it clearly waived PAVA and it authorized the arbitrator to award all remedies available under the Labor Code.
Oswald was briefly a pipefitter for Murray Plumbing and Heating Corporation, then in 2020 sued for allegedly not being provided meal and rest breaks. He also said he didn't receive accurate wage statements, his wages in a timely manner or reimbursement for business expenses.
His union was subject to an agreement effective from 2017 to 2026 that required arbitration of disputes. A trial court found the section of Labor Code giving authority to such agreements in the construction industry didn't apply.
Three days after Murray appealed, the union signed a memorandum of understanding regarding waiver of PAGA and class action claims. Though it was signed in 2021, it is retroactive to 2017.
"It bears noting that before the parties brought the MOU to our attention, shortly before oral argument, this court analyzed the Agreement without the MOU," the court ruled.
"We concluded that the original arbitration provisions satisfied section 2699.6 and barred Oswald’s civil suit. The clear terms of the MOU, modeled on the language of section
2699.6, reinforce our conclusion."