In the News: Constangy Attorneys Discuss Proposed Private Attorney General Act for Wage-Hour Claims with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Constangy attorneys Sasha Thaler and Chris Deubert were quoted in the article “Employment bar split over private wage-theft measure,” which was published in Massachusetts Lawyer Weekly. The article discussed the building support around a bill that would give employees the right to sue employers on the state’s behalf for alleged wage and hour violations.

Rep. Tram T. Nguyen of Essex has continuously tried to raise such a bill, modeled after California’s Private Attorneys General Act, for the past few years, but support for the initiative is growing. Sasha and Chris address how the new bill could be a major concern for employers, especially with how California’s PAGA imposes liability. 

“These class and PAGA claims are often filed as separate lawsuits, exposing employers not only to duplicative liability for the same claims, but also to increased defense cost,” remarked Chris and Sasha. “Over the past 10 years, California’s PAGA has been nothing short of a nightmare for employers of all sizes.” 

“I don’t know that [PAGA] actually ends up helping either businesses get their affairs in better order or employees get paid what they should have been paid any sooner,” Sasha said.

Chris highlights how PAGA was intended to make employees whole for amounts they should have been paid and help increase enforcement from a traditionally underfunded agency. 

“But I don’t think PAGA in California strikes the balance and serves those two purposes well,” he said. 

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