New UCL restitution decision: Pineda v. Bank of America, N.A.

In the published portion of Pineda v. Bank of America, N.A., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Jan. 21, 2009), the Court of Appeal (First Appellate District, Division Three) held that Labor Code "section 203 penalties may not be recovered as restitution under Business and Professions Code section 17203." Slip op. at 2; see id. at 7-10. The practical result of this holding is that, while the unpaid wages themselves may be recovered as UCL restitution (see Cortez v. Purolator Air Filtration Products Co., 23 Cal.4th 163, 173 (2003)), a shorter statute of limitations will apply to claims for any waiting time penalties associated with those unpaid wages.

The Complex Litigator has a detailed post on Pineda. Wage Law was following Pineda, but does not yet have a post on the new opinion.