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Styne v. Stevens2/8/2000
in (1999) 69 Cal.App.4th 489, 494-495, fn. omitted, original italics.)
The Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction to the exclusion of the superior court to determine disputes arising under the Act. (Buchwald v. Superior Court, supra, 254 Cal.App.2d 347 [trial court erred in restraining artists from proceeding before the Labor Commissioner and ordering them to arbitrate the dispute under the terms of the agency agreement].) Collier & Wallis, Ltd., v. Astor (1937) 9 Cal.2d 202, 205-206, on which the court in Buchwald relied, reversed an award of damages to a licensed talent agent on the ground that the controversy had not first been submitted to the Labor Commissioner. There the plaintiff sought commissions for securing motion picture employment for the defendant artist. Collier & Wallis, Ltd., held that any action brought in the superior court without first referring the matter to the Labor Commissioner and securing a determination is premature and cannot be maintained.
The Act has been broadly interpreted in favor of finding that the Labor Commissioner has jurisdiction. (See Garson v. Div. of Labor Law Enforcement (1949) 33 Cal.2d 861 [Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction of a dispute involving both fees due under an agency contract and damages for wrongful discharge of the agency]; Humes v. MarGil Ventures, Inc. (1985) 174 Cal.App.3d 486, 494-495 [Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction to hear a claim that an agreement is void for violation of licensing requirement where the artist also brought an action in superior court for rescission based on unrelated fraud]; ABC Acceptance v. Delby (1957) 150 Cal.App.2d Supp. 826, 828 [Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction of a dispute regarding money claimed to be due under an agency agreement, even though the parties had executed a promissory note for the sum].)
The fact that Stevens raised the Act defensively does not excuse her failure to refer the dispute to the Labor Commissioner. Regardless of whether the Act is raised affirmatively in the complaint or as a defense, the Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction of the claim that a contract is illegal under the Act. Stevens's defense required the resolution of that issue. To the extent the court was called upon to entertain her position, the case is one "arising under" the Act for purposes of section 1700.44, subdivision (a). To hold otherwise would result in the untenable position that the Commissioner's jurisdiction would depend upon whether a party chose to affirmatively seek relief under the Act or waited for enforcement by the opposing party. Such a rule could be used tactically to defeat the remedial purposes of the Act.
Waisbren v. Peppercorn Productions, Inc., supra, 41 Cal.App.4th 246, in which the Act was raised defensively, does not discuss whether the controversy was first referred to the Labor Commissioner. Contrary to Stevens's position, the opinion is not authority for the proposition that a referral is not required. It simply does not address the issue.
Stevens urges that if we determine that the Labor Commissioner has original jurisdiction to the exclusion of the superior court, we must dismiss the entire action. We disagree. Styne brought his action based upon a common law breach of contract claim which did not on its face implicate the Act. He alleged breach of an oral contract to pay him 10 percent of the profits of a business venture and related counts. Stevens did not raise the Act as an affirmative defense and took no steps to bring her claim before the Labor Commissioner. In the absence of a determination that the Act defeats it, Styne's claim survives.
3. Statute of limitations
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