Looking Ahead to Leeper: California Supreme Court to Address “Headless” PAGA Claims
Even with the statutory clarifications that came along with last year’s PAGA reforms, California courts continue to wrestle with one of the thorniest aspects of the law: whether plaintiffs can maintain particularly troubling and costly “headless” PAGA claims against employers. The issue of whether a pre-reform plaintiff can maintain a representative PAGA action on behalf of employees other than themselves (also known as a “non-individual” PAGA claim) without alleging an individual PAGA claim has caused confusion for many. However, there is a potential resolution on the horizon. The California Supreme Court is set to decide the issue in the Leeper v. Shipt, Inc. case, which we anticipate to be released in early 2026. What do employers need to know about this much-anticipated decision? Did California Employers Celebrate Too Soon? When California’s long-anticipated Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reforms took effect in 2024 , employers celebrated the reshap...