The Los Angeles employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP have filed a class action lawsuit against Shipt Inc., alleging that the company misclassified its shoppers as independent contractors and allegedly as a result violated the California Labor Code.
The class action lawsuit against Shipt Inc., is currently pending in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 20STCV01001.
The lawsuit alleges Shipt (a) failed to provide plaintiff and the other aggrieved employees accurate itemized wage statements, (b) failed to properly record and provide legally required meal and rest periods, (c) failed to pay overtime wages, (d) failed to pay minimum wages, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, and (f) failed to pay wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in Labor Code Sections §§ 201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 221, 226(a), 226.7, 226.8, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, 2802, and the applicable Industrial Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.
PAGA is a mechanism by which the state of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state’s labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of 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.
