March 12, 2020

Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. (2020) 9 Cal.5th 73

California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) permits an “aggrieved employee” to bring a representative action on behalf of current or former employees to recover civil penalties for wage-related violations of California’s Labor Code.

In Kim, the California Supreme Court held that a person has statutory standing to pursue a PAGA claim as an aggrieved employee if he or she was allegedly employed by the company that subjected the person to at least one alleged violation of certain provisions of the Labor Code. The Court concluded that employees who bring individual claims as well as a representative PAGA claim and satisfy PAGA’s standing requirement do not lose standing to pursue the representative PAGA claim if they settle and dismiss their individual claims.