Costs, Employment: Prevailing Defendant Employer Improperly Awarded Costs In PAGA Action Against LWDA Where It Did Not Participate In The Underlying Litigation

$124,585.24 Costs Award Vacated As A Matter Of Law On Appeal.

               In Rose v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Case No. A169640 (1^st Dist., Div. 2 May 14, 2025) (published), defendant employer prevailed in a PAGA action brought by plaintiff employee, with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) not participating in the litigation although having notice of it because a PAGA action is a type of qui tam action.  Eventually, after LWDA intervened on a post-judgment costs motion against employee, the trial court awarded $124,585.24 in costs to be paid by LWDA.

               On appeal, the appellate court reversed.  Nothing in the Labor Code or general costs statute allowed for an award of costs against LWDA unless it participated in the litigation, which it did not.  That is the holding in this opinion, with the Court of Appeal not having to decide whether a prevailing defendant in a PAGA action is entitled to recover its litigation costs under the general costs statute, CCP § 1032(b).