Huff v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.Huff v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.
I. BACKGROUND
Huff worked as a security guard for defendant Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. (Securitas). Securitas provides businesses with on-site security. It hires employees to work as security guards, and then contracts with its clients to provide guards for a particular location. Securitas occasionally places guards in temporary assignments, but it
Huff was employed by Securitas for about a year, during which time he worked at three different client sites. After he was removed from an assignment at the request of the client, Huff resigned his employment. Two months later, he sued Securitas for Labor Code violations. The operative second amended complaint contains a representative cause of action under PAGA, seeking penalties for Labor Code violations committed against Huff and other employees. According to the complaint, the basis for the PAGA claim is that Securitas is subject to penalties for violations of “numerous Labor Code provisions.” The Labor Code provisions alleged to have been violated include sections 201 [requiring immediate payment of wages upon termination of employment]; 201.3, subdivision (b) [requiring temporary services employers to pay wages weekly]; 202 [requiring payment of wages within 72 hours of resignation]; and 204 [failure to pay all wages due for work performed in a pay period] (unspecified statutory references are to the Labor Code).
Because of the representative nature of the action, the case was designated complex and the court ordered that the trial would proceed in phases. The parties agreed the first phase of the trial would involve a sample of 20 Securitas employees (10 selected by Huff and 10 by Securitas), and would determine only certain disputed issues as to those employees. Among the issues the parties agreed to have determined in the first phase were whether the sample employees had been paid on a weekly basis as required by
The first phase was tried to the court. After Huff presented his case, Securitas moved for judgment under
Huff moved for a new trial under
II. DISCUSSION
A. THE PRIVATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL MODEL OF LABOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
California law closely regulates the working conditions of employees and the payment of their wages. (See, e.g.,
Despite those statutes and remedies, the Legislature found state labor laws were not being effectively enforced. (Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, 379 (Iskanian).) Declining funding and staffing levels had left state agencies unable to produce widespread compliance. (Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, 980–981.) The solution the Legislature devised is the statute at issue in this case. PAGA was enacted in 2003 to allow private parties to sue for the civil penalties previously only recoverable by a state agency. (Iskanian, supra, 59 Cal.4th at p. 379.) As the California Supreme Court recognized in Iskanian, PAGA created a type of qui tam action, authorizing a private party to bring an action to recover a penalty on behalf of the government and receive part of the recovery as compensation. (Id. at p. 382). When an employee brings a representative action under PAGA, he or she does so “as the proxy or agent of the state‘s labor law enforcement agencies, not other employees.” (Esparza v. KS Industries, L.P. (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 1228, 1241.)
“The purpose of the PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of ‘deputizing’ citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code. [Citation.]” (Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 489, 501.) The relief provided by the statute is designed to benefit the general public, not the party bringing the action. (Ibid.) Since PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action, a plaintiff must first allow the appropriate state authorities to investigate the alleged Labor Code violations, by providing the Labor and Workforce Development Agency with written
B. AN EMPLOYEE AFFECTED BY AT LEAST ONE LABOR CODE VIOLATION MAY PURUE PENALTIES ON BEHALF OF THE STATE FOR UNRELATED VIOLATIONS BY THE SAME EMPLOYER
Securitas contends the trial court erred in concluding that so long as Huff was affected by at least one Labor Code violation, he can sue under PAGA to recover penalties for any alleged violation by Securitas, even those that did not affect him. Securitas does not dispute that PAGA authorizes a plaintiff to recover penalties for Labor Code violations suffered by other employees. But it argues the statute allows for that only when the violations against the other employees involve the same provision of the Labor Code as the violation suffered by the plaintiff. Resolving the issue raised by Securitas requires us to interpret PAGA, a pure question of law to which we apply a de novo standard of review. (Haniff v. Superior Court (2017) 9 Cal.App.5th 191, 198.)
When we interpret a statute our primary task is to ascertain the Legislature‘s intent and effectuate the purpose of the law. We look first to the words of the statute itself as the most direct indicator of what the Legislature intended. (Hsu v. Abbara (1995) 9 Cal.4th 863, 871.) PAGA provides in
As the trial court did, we interpret those provisions to mean that any Labor Code penalties recoverable by state authorities may be recovered in a PAGA action by a person who was employed by the alleged violator and affected by at least one of the violations alleged in the complaint. Indeed, we cannot readily derive any meaning other than that from the plain statutory language, and Securitas does not offer a reasonable alternative for what those provisions mean when read together.
Instead, Securitas relies heavily on legislative history, which it views as revealing the Legislature‘s intent to allow a PAGA plaintiff to pursue penalties only for the same type of Labor Code violation alleged as to him or her.1 Securitas points to a statement attributed to the sponsors of the PAGA bill that “unlike the UCL [Unfair Competition Law;
It is an established principle that where statutory language is unambiguous, a court is precluded from considering legislative history. (See, e.g., People v. Robles (2000) 23 Cal.4th 1106, 1112 [“If the language contains no ambiguity, we presume the Legislature meant what it said, and the plain meaning of the statute governs. [] If, however, the statutory language is susceptible of more than one reasonable construction, we can look to legislative history in aid of ascertaining legislative intent.“].) But as Securitas points out, the plain meaning rule does not prohibit a court from determining whether the literal meaning of a statute comports with its purpose. (Lungren v. Deukmejian (1988) 45 Cal.3d 727, 735.) Courts have therefore considered legislative history even in cases where the text of a statute is clear; but only to confirm the interpretation already apparent from the plain language, not to advance an alternative meaning. (See, e.g., Miller v. Bank of America, NT & SA (2009) 46 Cal.4th 630, 642 [examination of legislative history to support conclusion regarding proper interpretation]; Haniff v. Superior Court, supra, 9 Cal.App.5th at p. 202 [legislative history may provide additional authority confirming the court‘s interpretation of a statute].)
Even assuming it is appropriate to consider legislative history here, that would not change our conclusion because none of the purported expressions of intent relied on by Securitas made its way into the statute. The proposition that PAGA allows an employee
Securitas makes much of the fact that a previous version of the bill stated aggrieved employees could recover penalties “on behalf of themselves or other current and former employees,” and the language was changed to the conjunctive in the enacted version––allowing aggrieved employees to bring an action “on behalf of himself or herself and other current or former employees.” (
We also observe that PAGA‘s legislative history as a whole actually undermines Securitas’ position. The Legislature clearly stated that its intention in enacting PAGA was to solve the problem of inadequate state enforcement resources by deputizing private citizens to pursue violators. (Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, 980–981.) Given the goal of achieving maximum compliance with state labor laws, it would make little sense to prevent a PAGA plaintiff (who is simply a proxy for state enforcement authorities) from seeking penalties for all the violations an employer committed.
Securitas’ argument that in order to have standing to pursue statutory violations, a plaintiff must be aggrieved by those particular violations would have more traction if a PAGA claim were not a qui tam proceeding. As observed by the California Supreme Court in Iskanian (citing the Federal False Claims Act as an example), traditional standing requirements do not necessarily apply to qui tam actions since the plaintiff is acting on behalf of the government: “The qui tam plaintiff under the federal False Claims Act has standing in federal court under article III of the United States Constitution, even though the plaintiff has suffered no injury in fact, because that statute ‘can reasonably be regarded as effecting a partial assignment of the Government‘s damages claim. [Citation.]’ ” (Iskanian, supra, 59 Cal.4th at p. 382.) So in this context, not being injured by a particular statutory violation presents no bar to a plaintiff pursuing penalties for that violation. Although a PAGA suit differs from a pure qui tam action
Securitas’ interpretation of PAGA standing––that a plaintiff must have personally experienced the same violations pursued in the action––is similar to the requirements for class certification. (See Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1021 [requirements for maintaining a class action include predominant questions of law and fact among the class, and a plaintiff with claims that are typical of the class].) But a representative action under PAGA is not a class action. (Franco v. Arakelian Enterprises, Inc. (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 947, 962.) It is a law enforcement action where the plaintiff acts on behalf of the state, not on behalf of other employees. (Ibid.) The idea that a plaintiff must be aggrieved of all the violations alleged in a PAGA case does not flow logically from the fact that a plaintiff is standing in for government authorities to collect penalties paid (in large part) to the state. The plaintiff is not even the real party in interest in the action––the government is. (Iskanian, supra, 59 Cal.4th at p. 382.) In that sense, it would be arbitrary to limit the plaintiff‘s pursuit of penalties to only those Labor Code violations that affected him or her personally.
In Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1756, AFL-CIO v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 993, 999 (Amalgamated Transit), the California Supreme Court held that a union had no standing to bring a PAGA claim because it had never been employed by the alleged violator and therefore was not an “aggrieved employee.” (Id. at p. 1003.) That case interpreted a part of the “aggrieved employee” definition not at issue here––no one disputes Huff was employed by Securitas––but the Supreme Court‘s description of
We also note, as did the trial court, that PAGA has been interpreted in two federal district court cases as allowing an employee who has suffered a Labor Code violation to pursue penalties for all the violations committed by the employer. (Jeske v. Maxim Healthcare Servs., Inc. (E.D. Cal. 2012) 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2963, at p. 37 [Plaintiff “need not have suffered all PAGA violations for which she seeks to pursue civil penalties.“]; Holak v. K Mart Corp. (E.D. Cal. 2015) 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65439, at pp. 12–13 [“By the plain language of the statute, an aggrieved employee need only suffer one of the Labor Code violations alleged against his or her employer to be able to bring a PAGA claim on behalf of himself or herself and current or former employees who suffered any Labor Code violation at the hands of the employer. Plaintiff need not have actually suffered all of the Labor Code violations that she alleges to have taken place for purposes of seeking PAGA penalties.“].) Of course, those decisions are not binding on this court, and Securitas correctly points out that the standing issue was not necessary to the resolution of either case, so the observations regarding standing requirements are
Securitas argues that the “operative provision” of PAGA is
Securitas asserts that allowing PAGA plaintiffs to recover penalties for violations that did not affect them would grant them powers beyond those of the Labor Commissioner. But it cites no authority for the proposition that the Labor Commissioner is precluded from seeking penalties for all Labor Code violations an employer has committed. An action brought by the Labor Commissioner to recover penalties “shall be brought in the name of the people of the State of California and the Labor Commissioner.” (
Securitas relies on Starbucks Corp. v. Superior Court (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 1436, 1451 (Starbucks), which found that the plaintiffs could not bring an action for violation of a law prohibiting employers from inquiring about marijuana-related convictions on job applications because they had not suffered any injury from the inquiry––they had no such convictions to disclose. The court held that a plaintiff could not sue for a statutory penalty unless he or she was within the class of persons the statute was designed to protect. Starbucks is distinguishable for two reasons. First, it involved individual claims brought on behalf of other individuals, not a qui tam claim brought on
Securitas asserts that applying the statutory definition of “aggrieved employee” as we do here leads to absurd consequences. It worries that the penalties collectable by PAGA plaintiffs will be “bounded solely by [their] pleading imagination.” But a PAGA plaintiff does not collect penalties merely by alleging a Labor Code violation in the complaint. The plaintiff still must prove at trial that a violation in fact occurred. Procedural mechanisms such as summary adjudication remain available to weed out meritless claims before trial. (
C. THE REMAINING LABOR CODE VIOLATIONS ALLEGED BY HUFF ARE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE PAGA CAUSE OF ACTION
When the court granted the defense motion for judgment after Huff presented his case at the first phase of trial, it found that Huff had failed to prove a violation of the
Securitas contends that even if PAGA permits a plaintiff to seek penalties for Labor Code violations that did not affect him or her, Huff still cannot proceed because the untimely payment of wages on termination is a new theory raised after trial. We agree that had Huff not alleged that claim as part of the lawsuit, he could not be granted a new trial to litigate it. But as noted by the trial court in its order granting a new trial, the second amended complaint states: “When a security officer quits or is removed from a site, Securitas typically does not immediately pay the officer. Instead, it waits until the
Securitas also contends that Huff‘s claim for failure to pay wages on termination cannot support his PAGA cause of action because the claim is without legal merit. It argues that Huff‘s removal from an assignment does not constitute a termination of his employment as a matter of law and therefore it was not required to issue him a final paycheck at the time of removal. But the trial court never ruled on the merits of the claim for prompt payment of final wages, and as a reviewing court, we cannot do so in the first instance. (
A court has discretion to order separate trials of issues and determine the order in which those issues are to be decided. (Royal Surplus Lines Ins. Co. v. Ranger Ins. Co. (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 193, 205.) The trial court properly rejected Securitas’ argument that Huff waived his claim for failure to pay wages on termination, finding that the claim was not waived because it was not among the issues to be tried at the first phase of the trial and the second phase of the trial was to “include any remaining issues that have not
Securitas also contends that Huff forfeited the argument that other alleged violations could support the PAGA cause of action by not raising it in opposition to the defense motion for judgment during trial. But Huff did make the argument when he moved for a new trial, and the court properly considered it at that time in deciding to grant the motion. Securitas cites no authority for the proposition that the court was prohibited from correcting a legal error it made in its previous decision. As long as the trial court still has jurisdiction over a case, it has inherent authority to correct a prior ruling. (LeFrancois v. Goel (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1094, 1108 [procedural rules limit a party‘s ability to bring a motion for reconsideration but do not prevent a court from correcting a prior erroneous order, no matter how the error came to its attention].)
Securitas’ arguments regarding Huff‘s purported failure to preserve certain claims are rooted in the idea that it did not have adequate notice of the claims and therefore could not properly defend against them. But this is not a case where a plaintiff was granted relief at trial on claims about which the defendant was previously unaware. The court‘s ruling here is simply that plaintiff should be allowed to pursue certain claims at a later phase of trial––at which point Securitas will have the opportunity to defend against them. The only prejudice identified by Securitas is that it did not conduct discovery
D. HUFF‘S CROSS-APPEAL IS MOOT
Huff filed a protective cross-appeal from the order granting Securitas’ motion for judgment and the resulting judgment in Securitas’ favor. The trial court‘s order granting a new trial vacated the order and judgment from which Huff cross-appeals. Since we affirm the order granting a new trial, Huff‘s cross-appeal is moot.
E. HUFF‘S MOTION TO INTERPRET SECTION 201.3 IS DENIED
Recognizing that affirmance of the order granting a new trial means that we will not reach the issues he raises in his cross-appeal, Huff filed a motion requesting that we interpret
III. DISPOSITION
The order granting a new trial is affirmed. Huff shall be awarded costs on appeal. The cross-appeal is moot and dismissed. No costs are awarded as to the cross-appeal.
Grover, J.
WE CONCUR:
Premo, Acting P. J.
Mihara, J.
H042852 – Huff v Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.
| Trial Court: | Santa Clara County Superior Court Superior Court No. 1-10-CV-172614 |
| Trial Judge: | Hon. Peter H. Kirwin |
| Counsel for Plaintiff/Respondent Forrest Huff | Michael Millen |
| Counsel for Defendant/Appellant Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. | James E. Hart John Kevin Lilly Littler Mendelson Sherry Beth Shavit Tharpe & Howell, LLP |
H042852 – Huff v Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.