Ken Monroe
FBAC Chairman Ken Monroe went on the Capitol Weekly Podcast this week to discuss the challenges and opportunities family businesses face in California. He said the biggest challenge is the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) which allows individual employees to file suits on behalf of the state over allegations that labor laws have been violated. Over the years, it has become a gold mine for trial lawyers who file thousands of lawsuits against employers while providing little benefit to employees.
Monroe noted while reforms adopted by the Legislature in 2004 have had some modest positive effects, the number of suits remains high, businesses continue paying large settlements because the insurance companies and the lawyers prefer settlements than the risks trials entail, and employees have to take their lunch no later than 4 hours and 59 minutes from starting work whether they want to or not.
The entire podcast is available here.