In In re Pacific Sunwear of California, Case No. 16-10882 (LSS) (Bankr. D. Del. June 22, 2016), U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the District of Delaware granted a motion for leave to file a class proof of claim. In so doing, she rejected an argument by the debtors that class claims are impermissible in bankruptcy cases.
Prior to the bankruptcy filing, two lawsuits were filed in California state court against the debtors alleging violations of California labor laws relating to wages and hours. Both cases asserted representative claims under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), while one of them also asserted a proposed class action. The state court granted class certification as to two of the class action counts. Two months after the class certification order was entered, the debtors filed Chapter 11 petitions. The debtors requested and received approval of a general bar date, but did not serve the members of the certified class with notice of the bar date. Instead they chose to limit notice of the bar date to employees who worked for the debtors during the two years prior to the filing of the petition.
