Sierra Pac. Industries Wage & Hour Cases, 116 Cal. App. 5th 1038 (2025)
For more than four years, Sierra Pacific defended against this wage and hour class action, “remaining silent on the subject of arbitration and refusing to produce arbitration agreements signed by putative class members, despite being ordered to do so.” Only after eight plaintiff classes were certified did Sierra Pacific produce more than 3,000 signed arbitration agreements and then move to compel arbitration. The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration based on waiver and granted plaintiffs’ motion for evidentiary and issue sanctions, precluding Sierra Pacific from presenting evidence of the arbitration agreements or arguing that class members had signed such agreements. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order denying the motion to compel arbitration and also dismissed the employer’s appeal from the sanctions order on the ground that it was not independently appealable.
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