A new union organizing tactic is
the offensive use of the courts to gain favor with prospective
members. The union will sue an employer on behalf of the
employees that the union wishes to organize. The
unions figure that if they can show the employees that they will fight
for them, then perhaps the employees will return the favor by joining
up with the union.
The California Supreme Court has issued a recent decision that will make it more difficult for labor unions
to use this tactic and sue employers under two of our state's
broadest statutes - the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act
of 2004 and the Unfair Competition Law (Section 17200 of the Business & Professions Code). This is good news for employers.
In Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1756 v Superior Court,
the State's high Court ruled that a union cannot sue under either
of these laws unless the union itself has suffered an actual injury.
The Amalgamated Transit Union case was brought by two
unions and 17 individual employees against three transportation
companies. The plaintiffs claimed that the employers failed to
provide meal and rest periods as required under the Labor Code and an
Industrial Welfare Commission wage order. They sought a whopping
$10,608,000 in unpaid wages, plus over $2.6 million in penalties and
other relief. For purposes of this lawsuit, the unions claimed to
represent over 150 current and former employees.
The Supreme Court
(agreeing with two lower courts) ruled the unions did not have the
right to sue the employer under either the Private Attorneys
General Act or the Unfair Competition Law. This is because the
unions themselves were not injured by the employer's alleged
failure to provide meal and rest periods.
The Court reiterated that under the voter
initiative Proposition 64, only a "person who has suffered an
injury in fact and has lost money or property as a result of the unfair
competition" may bring a "representative action" under the Unfair
Competition Law. Similarly, the Private Attorneys General
Act only authorizes a civil action "by an aggrieved employee on
behalf of himself or herself and other current or former employees."
As a practical matter, unions may continue to be involved "behind
the scenes" in lawsuits under these statutes. From now on,
however, a union seeking to initiate such a lawsuit must convince an
employee who has suffered injury to be the named plaintiff.
