Estrada, et al. v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc.

Court: Supreme Court of California

Date: October 26, 2022

Issue on Appeal: Whether trial courts have inherent authority to manage claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), including the ability to strike or narrow representative claims that are unmanageable at trial.

RLC’s Position: The RLC argues that trial courts must retain discretion to ensure PAGA claims are manageable and consistent with due process. Forcing courts to adjudicate sprawling, individualized claims without the ability to narrow them would create inefficiencies, overwhelm judicial resources, and impose unfair settlement pressure on businesses. The RLC emphasizes that longstanding California precedent allows courts to limit or strike unmanageable representative claims, and that PAGA does not eliminate this authority.

Other Amici: Chamber of Commerce of the United States; California Chamber of Commerce; National Retail Federation.

Counsel: Malcolm A. Heinicke, Katherine M. Forster, and Minkee Sohn, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.