Are you searching for an experienced and proven attorney for a PAGA class action defense in California?  The Private Attorneys General Act or PAGA empowers California employees to stand in the shoes of California’s Attorney General as a “proxy” during any labor or wage related dispute or lawsuit.  Plaintiffs attorneys throughout the region are aggressively advertising for disgruntled employees as they search for a case that can make them hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

What is worse is that a PAGA action requires the employer to place a substantial notice within the workplace informing them of the potential action leading to rapid recruitment of additional plaintiffs and mounting exposures.  Plaintiffs attorneys in a PAGA action are able to compel a list of former employees in order to seek additional “members for the class.”

The cards are stacked against you as an employer in California.  The number of PAGA related lawsuits and class actions has substantially increased over the past few years in San Diego.  What do you need to know about your exposure as an employer to a potential PAGA action and how to defend it?

A Good Defense Begins With a Good Offense!

The Watkins Firm helps all of our clients through a review of existing policies and procedures as well as the employee handbook.  Many well-intentioned employers unknowingly open themselves up through extraneous language and posturing in these crucial corporate documents.  We work with you to review not only the documents but the associated processes and record keeping crucial to support you in any dispute.  Good processes and records are a great defense to any potential dispute.

Take IMMEDIATE Action

This is perhaps the most important information I have to give any San Diego or Southern California employer from the perspective of an attorney for a PAGA class action defense in California:

The moment you have any suspicion, any inkling that a potential dispute is brewing you need to call the Watkins Firm for a free, private consultation.  This is especially true if you receive any sort of letter from a “consumer agency” or law firm requesting information about an employee, their work records, payroll information and/or their employee file.  They may even have the nerve to ask you to sign the “attached tolling agreement” which is absolutely NOT in your interests at this time.  This is an immediate RED FLAG.  (You should think “I’ve got to call Dan Watkins, right now!”).

If there isn’t an exposure the free consultation will cover it, and probably give you some complimentary insight into some actions you might want to take.  If there is trouble brewing, we can take immediate action to not only remediate any potential exposure you might have, but put a stop to things progressing from an individual case to a potential class or the actual certification of a class.

What is The One Piece of Information Most San Diego Employers Don’t Know About Employee Disputes?

Once you (as the employer) have been notified of a potential issue, there is a secret 30 day clock running.  Plaintiffs attorneys are hoping you’ll ignore the letter in the hopes that it will just go away.  Once you pass that 30 day threshold your exposure substantially increases and my job as an attorney for a PAGA class action defense in California just got exponentially harder.

Pro-Tip: “Let’s talk about class actions.  That’s how a plaintiff’s attorney takes a mistake on the way somebody drafted someone’s paycheck in the tune of, let’s say $15 a week. That puts you in a class action that costs you three to four hundred thousand dollars, because of an accounting error, and now you find yourself in a class action. Now, had you had certain types of agreements in place, even some kinds of arbitration agreements, that’s where we’re at now on these laws. You could have cut this off. Also, had you had a lawyer for employers at the Watkins firm you could talk to about your procedures, or maybe an outside accounting service to review it or a CPA or our HR person, someone you or your staff can call, then you won’t have this problem. And if you do, then we could help you shut it down right away.

Fast action in any of these matters is the key. Pick up the phone and call us the second that you think something’s going on. You see, Judges don’t really like these cases, and there’s a lot of technical reasons to throw them out because they’re turning into the purview of that sort of a shady PI lawyer, the person that hangs out in the hospital room. These kind of employment lawyers are starting to be like that. And so if they don’t follow all the rules and you get to court in the first couple of months and you file a motion saying you didn’t give the proper notice, you didn’t state the proper cause of action, the judge will throw it out.

What if we help you to understand how to remediate the problem? If you know ahead of time and contact a good experienced lawyer at Watkins Firm.  Other law firms may be  just ready to milk you, because that’s what they do, they won’t propose a solution. They’ll just propose fight, fight.

But sometimes we have our clients come in, and we say, ‘no, no, no, don’t pay us all this money. Pay the extra $3,000 in wages. Send out amended pay stubs before you even have to answer the complaint.’ And guess what? All of the causes of action that have attorney’s fees in them are gone. Nobody wants to see you anymore because of that. So yeah, quick action gives your lawyer the right to do things that just destroy a case in the beginning.

Our goal with our employees is to help them out. We’re here to help them through this and be there for them when they really need us. When you do defense work, you want to get rid of cases as soon as possible. Nobody in business makes money just staying in litigation.

You need to know when you’ve got to something to worry about it and when you don’t.  When and how to take action to defeat the Commission or PAGA plaintiff’s attorneys.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Do You Need an Experienced, Proven Attorney for a PAGA Lawsuit Defense in San Diego or Southern California?

Do you have the potential for, or an actual dispute with an existing or former employee?  Have you received any letters from a source that looks like an agency or law firm requesting information, records or the employment file of a present or past employee?

This isn’t something you can let slide for awhile.  We can take a lot of immediate action to protect your interests and reduce, limit or eliminate potential exposures.  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 39 – What Keeps Employers Up at Night as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.