Franco

Plaintiff, a trash track driver, filed this suit, denominated a class action, against his former employer, a private company. He alleged the employer had violated the Labor Code by, among other things, denying meal and rest periods. The employer responded with a petition to compel arbitration based on a written agreement with plaintiff. The agreement contained a provision waiving class arbitrations. It also precluded an employee from acting in “a private attorney general capacity,” which would bar plaintiff’s enforcement of the Labor Code on behalf of other employees.

Plaintiff argued that the petition should be denied because the class arbitration waiver and the private attorney general prohibition were unconscionable. The trial court disagreed and granted the petition, effectively limiting the arbitration to plaintiff’s claims.

We conclude that the class arbitration waiver is invalid with respect to the alleged violations of the meal and rest period laws given “the modest size of the potential individual recovery, the potential for retaliation against members of the class, [and] the fact that absent members of the class may be ill informed about their rights.” (Gentry…