Judge: Randall J. Sherman, Case: 2022-01261804, Date: 2022-11-18 Tentative Ruling

Defendants Dimension Development Company, Inc. and G & B Hotel Employee Leasing, LLC’s Motion to Dismiss Representative Private Attorneys General Act Claim and Compel Arbitration of Plaintiff’s Individual Claims is denied.  The court declines to rule on plaintiff’s Evidentiary Objections since they are not material to the court’s disposition of the motion.

Section B of the parties’ Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate Claims purports to waive plaintiff’s right to bring representative claims.  A PAGA lawsuit is a representative action.  Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal. 4th 348, 360, 378, 387.  However, the waiver is unenforceable under Iskanian, 59 Cal. 4th at 383.  Section C of the Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate Claims then provides, “If the prohibition against class/collective and/or representative actions is deemed unlawful, then such action shall proceed forward in court as a class, collective and/or representative action.”  Thus, the parties agreed to litigate, not arbitrate, non-waivable PAGA claims, and defendant may not compel plaintiff to arbitrate her PAGA claims in this case, compelling the denial of this motion.

Plaintiff is ordered to give notice of the ruling unless notice is waived.