What is PAGA and Why is Attorney Chris Mead So Angry About It?

June's seminar comes to you live, in-person!  Join us for breakfast, networking, and a comprehensive dive into the Private Attorneys General Act -- aka PAGA.  

Attorney Chris Mead -- one of the CCCEAC's esteemed speakers -- is angry about PAGA litigation and how it is exploding in California.  This seminar is a look at what’s become the latest growth area in plaintiffs’ employment litigation and how it serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of wage and hour compliance.

The California Labor Code is full of technical wage and hour requirements with employers responsible for compliance.   If you have as few as 10 employees you may be exposed to class and PAGA representative actions.  Even if your employees don’t know about meal and rest break requirements, if one is discharged, even for cause, when that employee seeks counsel (as they inevitably do), one of the first things the plaintiff's attorney will ask in the intake interview is whether or not the worker got their meal and rest breaks.  Cue the PAGA litigation which typically seeks damages, penalties, and interest on a per pay period/per employee basis.  

In this seminar, HR leaders will learn how PAGA works and best practices to avoid the common non-compliance hooks.

About Our Speaker:

Chris Mead

Christopher J. Mead is a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment group and concentrates his practice on employment and labor litigation and counseling and business litigation. He focuses on risk reduction and management and practical solutions to day-to-day employment issues arising from California's complex web of employment laws. When asked his ideal client, he responds: "A business with employees."

His representation of employers in litigation includes state and federal courts and the full gamut of state and federal administrative agencies in discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, trade secret and misappropriation, sexual harassment, and retaliation matters. He has litigated wage and hour matters (on both individual and class basis) and labor matters with the National Labor Relations Board, private arbitrators, and in federal court. His last jury trial was a defense of wrongful discharge and retaliation claims conducted in Mandarin (in which he is not fluent but was able to make objections to Chinese language testimony before it was translated).

He counsels employers on reductions in force, writes and reviews employee handbooks and policy documents, and provides advice concerning wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, disability/accommodation, discipline, leaves, and termination and pre-termination matters. During the coronavirus pandemic, he worked extensively in counseling businesses on compliance with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; applications for medical and religious exemptions from vaccination requirements; layoffs and furloughs; the Bay Area's shelter-in-place acts; compliance with EEOC, CDC, and Department of Labor regulations and guidance; and return-to-work issues. He represents employers in union organizing matters, collective bargaining, and individual grievances.

He is a frequent presenter to legal and professional groups on employment law topics such as the anatomy of class actions, sexual harassment, employee discipline and termination, California law on restrictive covenants and employee classification, protection of trade secrets, and accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. He is a longtime member of the board of the Contra Costa County Bar Association’s Employment Section.

https://www.womblebonddickinson.com/us/people/christopher-mead