Two days before the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St., LLC, that the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) transportation worker exemption (meaning the FAA would not apply) extends beyond...more
4/24/2024
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Business Entities ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Contracts ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Goods or Services
On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed whether the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) transportation exemption—meaning the FAA would not apply—only relates to workers within the transportation industry....more
4/16/2024
/ Actual Delivery ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Bissonnette v LePage Bakeries Park St LLC ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Misclassification ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
The California Supreme Court in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc. affirmed the key holding in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana last year—the FAA requires PAGA plaintiffs to...more
In a significant win for California employers, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta,1 affirmed a district court injunction striking down California Assembly Bill 51 (“AB 51”) as preempted by the...more
2/20/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Protection ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws
The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana will dramatically impact employers’ rights to enforce arbitration agreements related to claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act...more
6/17/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Iskanian v CLS Transportation ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Viking River Cruises ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
On March 14, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas delivered a victory for businesses that utilize independent contractors, and for independent contractors themselves, when it held that the...more
3/16/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Statutory Violations ,
Wage and Hour
On October 13, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 51 into law, banning most employment arbitration agreements in California starting January 1, 2020. This new law is expansive in scope but short...more
10/17/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On April 24, 2019, in a 5-4 opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court held that even if an arbitration agreement is ambiguous as to whether classwide arbitration is permitted, that is insufficient to...more
4/26/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
On January 8, 2019, in a unanimous opinion written by Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court ruled that where parties have agreed to delegate issues of arbitrability to an arbitrator, a court may not override...more
1/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
Judicial Review ,
Motion to Compel ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Wholly Groundless Doctrine
The Supreme Court has weighed in: class and collective action waivers in arbitration agreements are lawful and must be enforced under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). ...more
5/22/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
On August 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment for a diverse coalition of 55 business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and joined by numerous state...more
On June 7, 2107, a plaintiff brought a putative class and collective action against Chipotle for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law. The plaintiff asserts the company...more
6/15/2017
/ Apprenticeships ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Collective Actions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Definition ,
Minimum Salary ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On May 15, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court reiterated the principle that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires states to treat arbitration agreements just as they treat other types of contracts. In Kindred Nursing Centers...more
On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases involving the lawfulness of class and collective action waivers in arbitration agreements. Since the National Labor Relations Board’s 2012...more
1/16/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Case Consolidation ,
Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Ernst & Young ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil USA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS
On November 22, 2016, at the request of 22 states and 55 business groups that brought suit as plaintiffs, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S....more
On August 22, 2016, in Morris et al. v. Ernst & Young, LLP, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit followed the lead of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the U.S Court of Appeals for the...more
8/24/2016
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ernst & Young ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity
In Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, the United States Supreme Court was asked to determine "whether an arbitrator exceeds his powers under the Federal Arbitration Act by determining that parties affirmatively 'agreed to...more