Rodriguez

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff and appellant Julian Rodriguez sued defendant and respondent Lawrence Equipment, Inc. (Lawrence) for wage- and-hour violations; he also sought civil penalties and wages pursuant to the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.)1 (PAGA). The trial court ordered arbitration of Rodriguez’s wage and hour claims, and stayed Rodriguez’s single PAGA cause of action. The arbitrator then found in favor of Lawrence and against Rodriguez on the alleged wage and hour Labor Code violations. After the trial court entered judgment on the arbitration award, Lawrence brought a motion for judgment on the pleadings asserting that the remaining PAGA cause of action was barred by issue preclusion since Rodriguez’s standing as an aggrieved employee was predicated on the disproven wage and hour violations. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed Rodriguez’s case. Rodriguez appeals, contending for the elements of issue preclusion have not been satisfied. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Rodriguez’s Employment

In April 1999, Rodriguez began working as an hourly machine operator for Lawrence, a manufacturer of flat bread…