Corporate Officers’ Liability for Unpaid Wages

CAN THE LABOR COMMISSIONER HOLD THE CEO OF A CORPORATION PERSONALLY LIABLE FOR UNPAID WAGES?

In Jones v. Gregory, a California Appellate Court confirmed that a Corporate CEO could not be held personally liable for corporate employees’ unpaid wages. The Labor Commissioner attempted to distinguish itself from the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Reynolds v. Bement (2005) 36 Cal.4th 1075 by arguing that while an individual employee cannot sue the CEO as an “employer,” the Labor Commissioner can. The Fourth Appellate District rejected this argument. The court pointed out that the Labor Commissioner was not trying to “pierce the corporate veil,” or that the CEO was “doing business as” the employer, implying that corporate officers could be held liable for wage violations if the plaintiff can pierce the corporate veil.

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Phillip J. Griego represents employees and businesses throughout Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco Bay Area including Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Los Altos, San Jose, the South Bay Area, Campbell, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz, Saratoga, and Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Benito, Mendocino, and Calaveras counties.