California’s Second District Court of Appeal reaffirmed that employees cannot bypass arbitration by filing only “representative” PAGA claims.

The U.S. government has announced a one-month delay in the implementation of new tariffs on vehicles and parts imported from Canada and Mexico. These tariffs, originally scheduled to take effect immediately, have been postponed to allow further discussions between policymakers and industry stakeholders.

On March 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a suspension of enforcement for certain reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Effective immediately, U.S. citizens and domestic reporting companies will not be subject to penalties for noncompliance with beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting obligations.

The California Labor Commissioner has been aggressively enforcing wage and hour laws, particularly targeting off-the-clock work in industries with commission-based or flat-rate pay structures. Recent enforcement actions underscore the importance of compliance, as businesses failing to properly compensate employees face significant penalties. For dealerships, ensuring that service advisors, technicians, salespersons, and other commission-paid employees are paid correctly for all hours worked is crucial to avoiding costly violations.

Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other federal law enforcement are gearing up for raids on California businesses in light of new immigration enforcement priorities. This is what you need to know to comply with both state and federal law.

Small changes can make a big difference. Add drawstrings or pockets below the waist to a blouse and the import tax drops from 15.4% to 8.1% for a cotton version and from 26.9% to 16% for one made of polyester.

In the course of providing advice and counsel to our clients, we encounter compliance issues that we feel can serve as valuable cautionary tales for all of our readers. Some perennial compliance snags include vacation accrual policies, and how employers pay out unused vacation time when an employee terminates.

2024 was a fairly quiet year for appellate opinions on class action matters, other than those relating to employment cases which we discuss in a separate heading. 2024 opinions focused primarily on the requirements for class certification particularly on commonality and standing.

The Appellate Courts published several opinions on a host of civil procedure issues ranging from the impact of statutory offers to compromise pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 998, statutes of limitations, choice-of-law, personal jurisdiction over non-California defendants, recoverable costs, admissibility of expert opinions, amending of pleadings, trial continuances, preservation of issues on appeal, and issuance of sanctions for discovery abuses. These opinions apply to all civil cases irrespective of the underlying substantive issues.

In 2024, the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal issued several opinions affecting dealerships and vehicle manufacturers. In particular, the courts’ opinions impact Lemon Law claims, the rights of a manufacturer to compel arbitration as non-signatories to the sales contract between the customer and the dealership, and impact of statutory offers to compromise under section 998 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Of particular importance, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Rodriguez v. FCA which holds that Song-Beverly Act’s refund-or-replace provision applies to vehicles for which the manufacturer’s express warrant was issued with the sale and not for vehicles with a balance remaining on the express warranty.

As usual, the appellate courts have issued rulings that impact arbitration, specifically the enforcement of arbitration agreements. We have a separate section focusing on arbitration in the labor and employment context. But, here we discuss 2024 opinions impacting arbitration outside of labor and employment claims. The opinions focus on enforceability of arbitration provisions in websites, the enforceability of arbitration agreements by non-signatories, and enforceability of arbitration agreements signed by a representative or agent of a party.

As with prior years, the appellate courts issued multiple opinions relating to arbitration in the labor and employment context. Yet again, the courts showed an inclination to refuse to enforce arbitration provisions for most labor and employment claims based on unconscionability. And even for those cases that were compelled to arbitration, the courts made clear that an employer’s failure to pay the arbitration fees within the required time period constitutes a “material breach” of the arbitration agreement justifying withdrawal from arbitration and proceeding in court. As expected, the courts grappled with the interplay between the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River with the later California Supreme Court decision in Adolph v. Uber in cases involving arbitration of PAGA claims. The courts also provided guidance in cases involving the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act recently enacted by Congress. Finally, the courts were faced with interpretations of the Federal Arbitration Act’s “transportation worker exemption” with mixed results for employers.

The appellate courts, as with prior years, were faced with a host of issues related to labor and employment cases including whistleblower actions under various federal and state statutes, cost-shifting in FEHA cases, and cases involving union activity. Of particular importance, in a long-awaited opinion, the California Supreme Court held that courts do not have discretion to dismiss PAGA claims simply because they are unmanageable.

2024 was a relatively quiet year with respect to appellate opinions relating to the landlord-tenant relationship. However, courts published opinions regarding the enforceability of limitation of liability clauses in leases and the rights of cotenants in large, multi-tenant commercial properties.

The courts of appeal published several opinions relating to anti-SLAPP motions focusing both on the procedural aspects of such motions, and the merits, especially relating to whether the underlying conduct constitutes protected activity.

Surprisingly, 2024 saw few opinions governing businesses, in general. However, the courts of appeal published opinions relating to policies and procedures for meetings of limited liability companies and the liability of a prime contractor for wrongful conduct by a subcontractor. In addition, one court of appeal issued an opinion relating to non-compete clauses in buy-sell transactions.

In 2024, courts of appeal issued several opinions relating to consumer protection including cases involving exposure to asbestos, cases alleging injuries caused by pharmaceuticals, and claims involving alleged false advertising.

In addition to the myriad labor and employment opinions, the courts of appeal also published opinions focusing on class actions in the labor and employment context. The opinions include discussions on class certification, employer-mandated travel requirements, first responders, and alleged wage statement violations.

Mike Brown was working as the fixed operations director for nucar auto group when, in August of 2024, he got a call from David Rosenberg. Rosenberg, whom Brown had worked for in the past, had an intriguing offer. Rosenberg, owner of DSR Motor Group, was working on an acquisition.

Outside capital can be a valuable resource whether to a dealer with only a few franchises seeking to grow his or her dealership group or a larger group looking to get even bigger. But the rewards also come with risks, as two examples of outside capital show.