(July 2, 2004) Legislators continue to ignore the California Chamber’s call to do no more harm and repeal the “sue your boss” law.

Legislation making a bogus fix to the “sue-your-boss” law — SB 796 (Dunn; D-Garden Grove; Chapter 906) — remains alive and awaits action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee after passing another Assembly policy committee late last week.

SB 1809 (Dunn; D-Garden Grove) claims to address litigation issues raised by the “sue your boss” law enacted last year. In reality, SB 1809 does nothing to lessen the opportunities made possible by SB 796 for bounty hunting private attorneys to sue all public and private sector employers.

“SB 1809 provides absolutely no relief from ‘sue-your-boss’ lawsuits. True relief would be the repeal of SB 796 because thousands of Labor Code sections remain available for use by any current or former private or public sector employee seeking the huge, lucrative bounty hunter awards available under SB 796,” said Julianne Broyles, Chamber director of employee relations and small business. “Repeal of SB 796 will stop bounty-hunting attorneys from inflicting further costs on California businesses as the state’s economy begins to recover.”

Bogus Solution
The Chamber and other opponents of SB 1809 pointed out that the bill as written today fails to solve the problem of the meritless lawsuits and huge fines permitted by the “sue your boss” law.

Amendments the author made to the bill earlier provide only for very limited instances where a court would be permitted to adjust the enormous civil fines imposed by SB 796 due to the many findings a court would have to make to justify a reduction.

The carefully worded amendment exempting posting and notice fines from SB 796 actions is a superficial improvement, because the provision does no more than direct the payment of the fine solely to the state Labor Agency, instead of the plaintiff, while attorneys would still collect fees and costs. The amendment does not bar the ability to bring an SB 796 enforcement lawsuit or prevent the attorney from collecting fees and costs.

Real Problem
The Chamber believes the only real improvement would be to repeal SB 796 because thousands of Labor Code sections remain available for use by any current or former private or public sector employee seeking the huge, lucrative bounty hunter awards available under SB 796.

The Chamber has calculated that the potential added cost of doing business in California due to SB 796 lawsuits filed so far against just nine companies totals $336.1 million. The number of businesses being targeted for these frivolous lawsuits continues to rise.

Key Vote
The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed SB 1809 on a vote of 6-3.

Ayes: Corbett (D-San Leandro); Jackson (D-Santa Barbara); Lieber (D- Mountain View); Longville (D-San Bernardino); Montañez (D-San Fernando); Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

Noes: Harman (R-Huntington Beach); Bates (R-Laguna Niguel); Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga).

Absent/abstaining/not voting: Laird (R-Santa Cruz); Levine (D-Van Nuys).

Action Needed
SB 1809 will be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Contact your Assembly representative, using our easy-to-edit position letter, and urge a “no” vote on SB 1809.