Paul DeCamp, a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC office, was quoted in Bloomberg Politics, in “California Helps Workers Sue Their Bosses. New York Has Noticed,” by Josh Eidelson.

Following is an excerpt:

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether employees have the right to bring class actions against their bosses. With the court’s Republican majority restored this year by President Donald Trump, labor advocates aren’t holding their breath.

Instead, they’re pursuing a work-around pioneered on the West Coast. A decade-old California law allows people to act as “private attorneys general,” bringing cases against companies on behalf of the government. Activists are urging other states and cities to follow suit.

It’s the latest skirmish in a long war. Over the past couple of decades, companies have increasingly required their employees—and their customers—to surrender the right to class action in a courtroom, and instead bring any grievances to individual arbitration hearings.

The California model helps plaintiffs to get around such agreements. …

Business advocates say PAGA shouldn’t go viral. “It’s essentially open season on employers,” says Paul DeCamp, who led the federal Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division under George W. Bush and now defends companies in employment suits.

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