The UCL Practitioner

Court of Appeal addresses improper communications with putative class members: Barriga v. 99 Cents Only Stores LLC

In Barriga v. 99 Cents Only Stores LLC, ___ Cal.App.5th ___ (Jun. 26, 2020), the Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District, Division Two), in a 2-1 decision, reversed an order denying class certification of certain wage and hour claims, holding that the trial court failed to apply the correct legal standard in ruling on plaintiff's motion to strike the defendant's "happy camper" declarations.  Because "an ongoing business relationship between the class opponent and putative class members—especially a current employer-employee relationship—is rife for abuse and coercion," the trial court should have "carefully scrutinized" the declarations "for actual or threatened abuse."  Slip op. at 4. 

The opinion contains a lengthy discussion of the problems with inappropriate pre-certification communications with proposed class members and the court's power to prevent or rectify them.  Id. at 28-47. 

UCL's extraterritorial reach in public prosecutor actions: Abbott Labs. v. Superior Court

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Abbott Laboratories v. Superior Court, ___ Cal.5th ___ (Jun. 25, 2020), holding that "[t]he UCL does not preclude a district attorney, in a properly pleaded case, from including allegations of violations occurring outside as well as within the borders of his or her county."  Slip op. at 1. 

On the question of monetary relief in particular, the Court summarized its holding as follows:

In sum, the text of the UCL grants broad civil enforcement authority to district attorneys, and this broad grant of authority is consistent with the statute’s purpose and history. We see no indication that in an enforcement action brought by a district attorney, the Legislature intended to limit civil penalties or restitution to the geographic boundaries of the district attorney’s county.

Id. at 16.  My coverage of the oral argument in this case is available here.