Starks v. Vortex Industries, Inc.
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Under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), an employee aggrieved by his or her employer's Labor Code violations may be authorized to act as an agent of the LWDA to recover such penalties in a civil action. In the cases underlying these consolidated appeals, Plaintiffs Starks and Herrera, each acting as the LWDA's agent, separately filed substantially identical PAGA actions against their former employer, Vortex. Starks eventually settled with Vortex and Herrera moved to vacate the judgment and intervene in the Starks action.
The Court of Appeal held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Herrera's motion to intervene in the Starks action was untimely. The court also held that, because the LWDA accepted the proceeds from the judgment in the Starks action, Herrera, as the LWDA's agent, cannot attack that judgment. The court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in the Herrera action, because Herrera's PAGA claim, in substance, is encompassed within the Starks judgment, and thus its maintenance is barred by the LWDA's acceptance of the benefits of the Starks judgment.
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