Call And Jensen Confirms Complete Appellate Victory Precluding 30,000-member Class And PAGA Action

Call and Jensen recently successfully defended The Board of Trustees of the California State University, securing a complete dismissal of an estimated 30,000-member class and PAGA action in which a CSU faculty member claimed that employees were not properly reimbursed for remote work expenses during a portion of the Covid pandemic. The firm initially filed for a complete demurrer of claims made under the Labor Code and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), and the trial court agreed with the defense that the code sections at issue did not apply to CSU as a public entity. The firm further defended its client’s win on appeal, where the Los Angeles Superior Court’s ruling and the conclusions to be drawn from recent appellate decisions and underlying sovereign rights law dating back hundreds of years were vigorously challenged. Ultimately, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the complete dismissal of the action on a de novo review, agreeing with Call and Jensen’s arguments including that “[t]o subject CSU to the Labor Code’s requirement regarding equipment expense reimbursement … would… limit the discretion vested in CSU to establish policies for employee reimbursement for necessary expenses, and would potentially divert limited educational funds from CSU’s core function to pay not only legal judgments but potentially huge additional amounts to outside parties.” Firm attorneys Julie Trotter, Jacqueline Beaumont, and Melinda Evans represented The Board of Trustees, as part of the firm’s robust higher education industry practice.