Supreme Court of California

In an action brought by labor unions against transportation industry employers under the unfair competition law and the Labor Code Private Attorney General Act of 2004, Court of Appeals judgment is affirmed where: 1) a plaintiff has standing to bring an unfair competition law action only if the plaintiff has suffered injury in fact, and an injured employee's assignment of rights cannot confer standing on an uninjured assignee; 2) a plaintiff has standing to bring an action under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 only if the plaintiff is an aggrieved employee, and an aggrieved employee cannot assign a claim for statutory penalties as the employee does not own an assignable interest; and 3) a representative action under the unfair competition law must be brought as a class action.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/29/2009
• Published 06/29/2009

Judges

• KENNARD, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Neyhart, Anderson, Flynn & Grosboll, John L. Anderson, Scott M. De Nardo and Benjamin K. Lunch, San Francisco, for Petitioners., Davis, Cowell & Bowe, John J. Davis, Jr., and Paul L. More, San Francisco, for Heat and Frost Insulators Local 16, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 159, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 393 and Plasterers Local 200 as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioners., Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, David Pallack, Pacoima, José Tello, Linda Fang, Pasadena;  National Employment Law Center, Laura Moskowitz, Washington, DC;  Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Anel Flores;  Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Yungsuhn Park;  Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, Matthew Goldberg, San Francisco;  The Worksafe Law Center, Danielle Lucido;  The Watsonville Law Center and Dori Rose Inda, for Garment Worker Center, Inquilinos Unidos, Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, Yamin Yan and Yao Zhang as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioners., California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Cynthia L. Rice, Santa Rosa, Blanca Bãnuelos, Stockton, Michael L. Meuter, Salinas, and Julie Montgomery, for Jose Arias and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioners., Altshuler Berzon, Scott A. Kronland and Barbara J. Chisholm, San Francisco, for American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers International Union of North America, Service Employees International Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Unite Here as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioners., McMahon Berger, James N. Foster, Jr., Michelle M. Cain, St. Louis, MO;  Kampe & Kampe and K.W. Kampe, III, for Real Party in Interest First Transit, Inc., Gleason & Favarote, Paul M. Gleason, Torey J. Favarote and Richard Y. Chen, Los Angeles, for Real Party in Interest ATC/Vancom, Inc., Fulbright & Jaworski, Marcus Torrano, Los Angeles, Rachel Salvin;  Jenkens & Gilchrist, Margaret Rosenthal and Sabrina L. Shadi, Los Angeles, for Real Parties in Interest Progressive Transportation Services, Inc., and Coach USA Transit Service., Littler Mendelson, Theodore R. Scott and Tami Falkenstein-Hennick, San Diego, for Real Party in Interest Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc., O'Melveny & Myers, Scott H. Dunham, Los Angeles, Ryan W. Rutledge, Newport Beach;  Law Offices of Steven Drapkin, Steven Drapkin, Los Angeles, National Chamber Litigation Center, Inc., and Robin S. Conrad, Washington, DC, for Employers Group, California Employment Law Council, Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and California Chamber of Commerce as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Parties in Interest., Deborah J. La Fetra, Timothy Sandefur, Sacramento, and Elizabeth A. Yi, for Pacific Legal Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Parties in Interest.


• For Appellees:
  
• No appearance for Respondent.