Woods

BACKGROUND

In 2014, Plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit against CBRE Group, claiming CBRE Group was her former employer, alleging various Labor Code violations, and seeking PAGA penalties. The trial court dismissed the class claims, compelled arbitration of Plaintiff’s individual Labor Code claims, and stayed the PAGA claim pending arbitration. Over a year and a half later, the trial court issued an order to show cause why the action should not be dismissed after Plaintiff failed to file a case management statement regarding the status of the arbitration. As it

1 turns out, the arbitration had not yet commenced; CBRE Group submitted evidence that it had unsuccessfully attempted to contact Plaintiff to discuss selection of an arbitrator. Nearly two years after the individual claims were ordered to arbitration, the trial court appointed an arbitrator. In March 2017, the arbitrator issued an order to show cause why the arbitration should not be dismissed for want of prosecution after neither Plaintiff nor her counsel appeared at an arbitration management conference. Ultimately, the arbitrator awarded Plaintiff a total of $504 plus interest. The arbitrator also awarded Plaintiff…