The Second Appellate District reversed a judgment. The court held that an employee could state a cause of action for civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 for violation of an Industrial Welfare Commission wage order mandating that employees be provided suitable seating.
Eugina Bright filed a class action complaint against her employer, 99¢ Only Stores, where she worked as a cashier. Bright stated a single cause of action alleging that 99¢ Only Stores violated Labor Code §1198 by failing to provide her with a seat, despite the fact that the nature of her work reasonably permitted the use of a seat. The failure to provide a seat, she claimed, violated Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order No. 7-2001, subdivision 14 (the suitable seating requirement). Bright sought civil penalties under §2699(f) for the §1198 violation based, in turn, on violation of the Commission’s suitable seating requirement.
