Judge: Marcella O. Mclaughlin, Case: 37-2023-00005328-CU-OE-CTL, Date: 2024-03-19 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - February 29, 2024

03/01/2024  01:30:00 PM  C-72 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Marcella O McLaughlin

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Civil - Unlimited  Other employment Motion Hearing (Civil) 37-2023-00005328-CU-OE-CTL YANEZ VS ITS ABR INC [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion - Other, 02/08/2024

The unopposed motion re: PAGA claim settlement approval is DENIED without prejudice.

PAGA settlements are subject to trial court review and approval. Lab. Code § 2699(l)(2). '[A] trial court should evaluate a PAGA settlement to determine whether it is fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA's purposes to remediate present labor law violations, deter future ones, and to maximize enforcement of state labor laws.' Moniz v. Adecco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 77. In any PAGA settlement, 75 percent of the civil penalties recovered go to the LWDA; the remaining 25 percent are disbursed to employees aggrieved by the particular violation. Lab. Code § 2699(i).

Here, the parties' PAGA settlement of $10,000 runs afoul of section 2699(i) because the settlement proposes to distribute less than 75 percent of the PAGA penalties to the LWDA. (See Koumas Decl., ¶ 9; see also Ex. 1 at § 4.3(a)(5).) Plaintiffs have not cited, nor has the court located, any authority permitting such an allocation of PAGA penalties.

The court also has serious concerns regarding the PAGA settlement amount ($10,000) compared to plaintiffs' individual settlement amount ($180,000). Plaintiffs do not explain why their individual settlement is disproportionally higher than the PAGA settlement, especially considering that 'the maximum liability in a PAGA claim of this type could be in the range of $100,000.00-500,000.' (Koumas Decl., ¶ 14, emphasis in original.) While some federal district courts have found that a lower value PAGA settlement may be appropriate where there is a robust settlement of class claims, this case was not brought as a class action. Plaintiffs have not cited any authority holding that PAGA claims may be substantially reduced below their settlement value in a PAGA only settlement.

In sum, the court is unable to conclude that the PAGA settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable in light of PAGA's policies and purposes.

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