Class Actions & PAGA
California Class Action and PAGA Employment Lawyer
ShortLegal, APC represents California employees in complex employment litigation, including wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA representative actions.
Some employment disputes involve only one employee. Others reveal that an employer’s illegal policies and practices affect the entire workforce — sometimes intentionally designed to profit at the expense of the employees. When the facts support it, a class or PAGA representative action can be the most effective way to hold an employer accountable and recover what employees are owed.
ShortLegal identifies those issues carefully and pursues the litigation path supported by the facts, evidence, and law.
20+ years of complex employment litigation · $50M+ recovered for employees · Trial-ready
Experience Matters
Class actions and PAGA representative actions require careful factual investigation, strategic pleading decisions, procedural knowledge, discovery planning, data analysis, mediation preparation, and litigation judgment.
ShortLegal is led by Brian R. Short, who has spent his career in the trenches of complex and class employment litigation — investigating payroll data, certifying classes, negotiating in mediation, and taking cases through trial. That hard-won experience informs every decision, from whether a case belongs in front of a class to how the evidence is built and presented.
Class Actions
A class action allows a single employee to bring claims on behalf of all employees with similar grievances — personally representing the entire group to recover damages without requiring the direct participation of every affected employee. Rather than each employee bearing the full cost of litigation alone, the claims are consolidated — making it practical to pursue violations that might be too costly or too small to litigate individually. A successful class action can recover unpaid wages and related damages on behalf of all affected employees.
PAGA Representative Actions
California’s Private Attorneys General Act — PAGA — is a unique law that allows employees to step into the shoes of the state and pursue civil penalties against employers for Labor Code violations. These are penalties over and above what an employee would otherwise be entitled to recover. PAGA penalties are calculated per pay period and per employee — and for employers with widespread violations, they can reach into the millions of dollars very quickly. PAGA gives employees and their attorneys significant leverage that does not exist in ordinary employment litigation.
Representative Results
A selection of class and PAGA employment actions ShortLegal has resolved on behalf of California employees.
Class Action and PAGA Employment Action Against California-Based Retailer
Class Action and PAGA Employment Action Against Local San Diego Medical Facility
Class Action and PAGA Employment Action Against National Retailer
Class Action and PAGA Employment Action Against California Trucking Company
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
A Careful, Fact-Driven Standard
ShortLegal does not assume that every individual employment case should become a class action or PAGA representative action. The firm evaluates whether broader claims are supported by the facts, the records, the employer’s practices, and California law.
Frequently Asked Questions
A class action allows one or more employees to sue on behalf of all employees who experienced the same violation. This is particularly powerful for wage and hour violations that affect an entire workforce.
PAGA — the Private Attorneys General Act — allows an employee to sue on behalf of the state for Labor Code violations and recover civil penalties. Unlike a class action, PAGA does not require court certification and is harder for employers to defeat through arbitration agreements.
Class members typically receive a share of the settlement based on their weeks worked or hours worked during the relevant period. PAGA settlements split penalties between the state (75%) and affected employees (25%).
No. Retaliation against employees for participating in a class action or PAGA action is prohibited and is itself a separate legal violation.
California employment claims have strict filing deadlines — as short as six months for claims involving government employers. Once the deadline passes, even a strong claim cannot be recovered. If you believe your rights were violated, the time to act is now.
Think your employer’s practices affect more than just you?
A confidential conversation is the first step. We’ll evaluate whether the facts support a class or PAGA action — at no cost to you.
See how ShortLegal’s wage, class, and PAGA cases have resolved.
View Case Results