Issues on Review Stated in Review Granted in Amalgamated Transit Union

Last week, the Supreme Court granted review in Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1756, AFL-CIO v. Superior Court (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 39 (holding that an individual’s assignment of a cause of action to a third party does not carry with it the individual’s statutory right to sue in a representative capacity under PAGA or the Unfair Competition Law at Business and Professions Code § 17203). The court has now posted an official summary of issues on review:

(1) Does a worker’s assignment to the worker’s union of a cause of action for meal and rest period violations carry with it the worker’s right to sue in a representative capacity under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Labor Code § 2698 et seq.) or the Unfair Competition Law (Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq.)?

(2) Does Business and Professions Code section 17203, as amended by Proposition 64, which provides that representative claims may be brought only if the injured claimant “complies with Section 382 of the Code of Civil Procedure,” require that private representative claims meet the procedural requirements applicable to class action lawsuits?

The second issue is a particularly interesting one, and has the potential for much wider implications than the first issue.