Selvarajah v. World Oil Marketing Co. CA2/4

Filed 7/24/25 Selvarajah v. World Oil Marketing Co. CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

SINNATHAMBY RAJ. B337886 SELVARAJAH, et al., (Los Angeles County Plaintiffs and Appellants, Super. Ct. No. 20STCV15659)

v.

WORLD OIL MARKETING COMPANY, et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Elihu M. Berle, Judge. Appeal dismissed. Workplace Rights Law Group, Gregory D. Wolflick, Theodore S. Khachaturian; Law Office of Margarit Kazaryan and Margarit Kazaryan, for Appellants. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Lynne C. Hermle, Joseph C. Liburt, and Alice R. Hoesterey, for Respondents.

Plaintiffs Sinnathamby Raj. Selvarajah and Anoja S. Selvarajah (collectively, the Selvarajahs) appeal from an order sustaining the demurrer of defendants World Oil Marketing Company, Robert S. Roth, Steven F. Roth, Matthew Pakkala, and Jim Tostado (collectively, World Oil) to the Selvarajahs’ class action allegations in their first amended complaint (FAC). The Selvarajahs also challenge the trial court’s order declining to enter judgment after confirming an arbitration award due to unresolved claims between the parties. As other cases have recognized, the order sustaining the demurrer to the class claims is nonappealable because a claim under the Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA) remains pending on behalf of class members. The order declining to enter judgment is likewise nonappealable. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2007, the Selvarajahs entered into a commission and operating agreement with World Oil concerning their operation of gas stations in Arcadia and Anaheim, California. The agreement designated the Selvarajahs as independent contractors. In April 2020, the Selvarajahs filed this putative class action alleging World Oil misclassified them and class members as independent contractors, rather than as employees, and violated various Labor Code provisions and the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.). The Selvarajahs filed their FAC in June 2020, adding a cause of action under PAGA seeking civil penalties on behalf of themselves and other current and former “aggrieved employees.” In September 2020, World Oil filed a petition to compel the Selvarajahs’ individual claims to arbitration. The trial court