Pickett

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant 99 Cents Only Stores (defendant) appeals from the trial court’s order denying its motion to compel plaintiff and respondent Shelley Pickett (plaintiff) to arbitrate her individual claim brought pursuant to the Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA).1 According to defendant, notwithstanding our decision to the contrary in Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 489 (Brown), the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. (FAA)) and recent United States Supreme Court authority interpreting it, required plaintiff to arbitrate her individual PAGA claim pursuant to the terms of her arbitration agreement and to forego pursuit of the representative PAGA claim pleaded in her complaint. For the reasons set forth in this opinion and in the two concurring opinions, we affirm the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion to compel arbitration.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. PAGA Complaint

Plaintiff filed a representative action against defendant asserting a cause of action under the PAGA for alleged Labor Code violations and a derivative request for an injunction to prohibit future violations. Plaintiff sought penalties…