As we were waiting for SCOTUS’s decision in AmEx, we got a decision on vindicating statutory rights from a different high court: the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. ...more
Class action waivers in employment agreements have been a point of contention for quite some time. More often than not, courts around the country have found that employment arbitration agreements with class action waivers are...more
I. Introduction - There has been much debate concerning the scope of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, and the enforcement of collective arbitration waivers — also called “class...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740, 2011 BL 110648, 79 U.S.L.W. 4279 (U.S. 2011), has been characterized as a ‘‘game changer’’ in the arbitration arena. Concepcion overturned...more
The California Court of Appeal has rejected a class action waiver in an employment agreement on the basis that the waiver (or agreement) was unconscionable. ...more
In April 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark opinion in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted California's Discover Bank rule, which had previously voided waivers of...more
Editors’ Note: This post was originally published at rennerclassactions.com, and is reprinted with permission. The Supreme Court recently heard argument in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, No. 12-133....more
The U.S. Supreme Court heard the much anticipated oral argument in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant on February 27, 2013. The issue before the Court was whether an arbitration clause which prohibits class...more
Yesterday, we attended the highly anticipated oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Italian Colors Restaurant v. American Express Travel Related Services Co. While no one can predict with certainty how the Court will...more
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in the first of two cases to be argued this term again raising questions regarding the enforceability of arbitration agreements and class action waivers. These cases...more
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) hearing panel held that FINRA’s own rules prohibiting judicial class action waivers in broker-dealer customer arbitration agreements are preempted by the Federal Arbitration...more
Two federal circuit courts recently reversed district court decisions allowing non-signatories to compel arbitration. The analysis emphasizes that for a defendant to prove equitable estoppel compels arbitration, the...more
Last year, around this time in fact, we wrote about the Federal Arbitration Act and the effect of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), on an argument under Wisconsin law about the unconscionability of an...more
On January 30, the United States filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the Respondents in American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant, No. 12-133, an extremely important case involving the...more
Employers in California have been watching closely to see how courts will apply the United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), which held that the Federal Arbitration Act...more
Much like a war where each side steadily amasses victories and defeats, the federal courts and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continue to have diverging opinions on the enforceability of class action waivers in...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important pro-arbitration opinion last week, compelling individual arbitration of a putative Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action. Owen v. Bristol Care, Inc., No....more
An employer may include in its mandatory arbitration agreement a waiver of the right to bring collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal appeals court ruled January 7....more
A recent ruling from the Southern District of New York provides further clarification regarding the use of arbitration clauses in employment agreements. On December 4, 2012, District Judge Barbara S. Jones granted UBS AG’s...more
The big issue in arbitration law in 2012 was class arbitration. Many state court opinions that had found class arbitration waivers unconscionable were preempted under federal law based on application of Concepcion. And the...more
Decades ago, Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act to combat the hostility courts showed towards arbitration agreements. Since that time, the Supreme Court has repeatedly pronounced the public policy in favor of the...more
On December 4, 2012, in Cohen v. UBS Financial Services, Inc., et al, 12-CIV-2147 ("Cohen"), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York addressed whether Rules 13204(a) and (b) of the FINRA Code of...more
On November 9, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the enforceability of a class action waiver clause in agreements between American Express and merchants that accepted its cards. The merchants filed a proposed...more
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