Allen

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant, Labor Ready Southwest, Inc., appeals and plaintiff, Jeffrey L. Allen, cross-appeals from an order compelling arbitration of alleged Labor Code violations. The trial court also severed from arbitration plaintiff’s request for relief under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Lab. Code,1 § 2698 et seq.) pursuant to this division’s opinion in Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 489, 502 (review den. Oct. 19, 2011; cert den. Ralphs Grocery Co. v. Brown (Apr. 16, 2012) [132 S. Ct. 1910]). Plaintiff’s cross-appeal asserts the arbitration agreement was unconscionable under general contract principles or that defendant waived the right to compel arbitration. We reverse the order compelling arbitration because defendant waived the right to compel arbitration as a matter of law. Defendant’s appeal is therefore moot.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. The Complaint

On April 30, 2009, plaintiff filed a class, representative and Private Attorneys General Act action against defendant. The complaint alleged that defendant has approximately 600,000 temporary employees who work in various fields throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.…