The Superior Court of California, the Honorable Andrew Y.S. Cheng presiding, has denied without prejudice a PAGA-only settlement involving “Juicers” who charged Lime scooters and were misclassified as independent contractors.   Of special note, the Court found a “likely reverse auction”  with an “odor of mendacity.” The Court also held that Proposition 22 was not a reason to discount the value of the case.   Instead, the Court indicated that additional data was necessary to evaluate the value of the Labor Code and Wage Order violations alleged.  The Court also rejected discounts applied by the settling plaintiff.  The court’s order is here: Lime Juicers Redacted Order Denying Torres PAGA Settlement

RBGG’s Gay Grunfeld, Michael Friedman, and Jenny Yelin, along with co-counsel Seth Yohalem, represent plaintiff Yasin Olabi in the case.  According to Grunfeld, “This order is a victory for our client who has steadfastly maintained that Lime’s settlement with only one of the four plaintiffs failed to advance the purposes of the Private Attorney General Act, Labor Code Section 2698 et seq.  Plaintiff Olabi looks forward to trying his claims on May 17, 2021.”

Law360 reported on the judge’s order in a story on February 22, 2021, Lime Scooter Co.’s $5M PAGA Deal Smells Rotten To Judge

For more information about the case see our previous posts: