This Law Firm Publication by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. discusses Happy Nails & Spa of Fashion Valley, L.P., et al. v. Julie A. Su, where a California Court of Appeal held an employer in a wage and hour suit need not relitigate the issue of worker classification if the employer had previously won the issue in a related claim against a state agency. In this case, the employer successfully argued its workers were independent contractors during a compliance action against the Employment Development Department (EDD) in 2004, and could rely on the doctrine of collateral estoppel in a 2008 litigation against the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) in 2008.