At a time when some courts seem willing to write arbitration clauses out of contracts because of perceived fairness issues, Utah is firmly and liberally behind them. The Utah Court of Appeals recently confirmed Utah’s very strong policy in favor of arbitration and its liberal construction of arbitration clauses. Although not decided in the context […]
There has been much publicity recently regarding a series of states enacting state statutes intended to restrict or prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements in the employment context. The most recent such endeavor to be highly publicized is California’s A.B. 51, which arguably prohibits employers from making arbitration agreements a condition of offered or continued employment. As […]
This past week, the EEOC withdrew its 1997 policy statement regarding mandatory binding arbitration agreements. In that policy statement, the EEOC took the position that the use of mandatory binding arbitration agreements as a condition of employment were contrary to the fundamental principles of the federal anti-discrimination statutes, including the right to pursue discrimination claims […]
In recent years, many private sector employers have adopted mandatory arbitration programs for employment disputes, which their employees are required to sign as a condition of employment. Main objectives of those programs are the expeditious resolution of employment disputes and the avoidance of protracted and expensive court litigation. Typically, mandatory employment arbitration programs list the […]
Last year, in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, the Supreme Court held that employers act lawfully when they require employees, as a condition of employment, to enter into agreements with the employer waiving their rights to pursue employment claims through class or collective actions and stipulating that any such disputes would be resolved by individualized […]
Approximately one year ago, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, 548 U.S. ___ (2018), holding that class action waivers contained in arbitration agreements, including agreements between employers and their employees, are permissible and enforceable. See here. That decision left open, however, the question of: what if the arbitration […]
In a unanimous opinion, with Justice Ginsburg concurring, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an exemption under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) applies to contracts with independent contractors. The FAA generally requires courts to enforce private arbitration agreements. But the FAA has exemptions, including “contracts of employment of . . . workers engaged in foreign […]
A surprising and cautionary tale for employers from the usually conservative and employer-friendly Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals – you might want to sign your arbitration agreements. The court last week struck down an employer’s arbitration agreement which was signed by the employee but not by the company. See here. The arbitration agreement at issue […]
The California legislature is looking to pass a host of bills aimed at decreasing sexual harassment in the workplace and increasing rights of victims of sexual harassment: SB 820 bans confidential settlement agreements in cases involving sexual assault, sexual harassment or sex discrimination. This bill would make any such confidential settlement agreement void as a […]
As previously reported on October 13, 2017, see here, the Federal Courts of Appeal were evenly divided on the question of whether class action waivers contained in otherwise enforceable employment arbitration agreements were permissible. Three Courts of Appeal, i.e., the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, had accepted the position advocated by the National Labor Relations […]
