Seyfarth Synopsis: A divided Ninth Circuit panel has held that employer attempts to impose mandatory arbitration agreements on applicants or employees can be criminally and civilly penalized in California, and thus struck...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The legal battles over Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51)—which attempts to prohibit mandatory employment arbitration agreements - continue. The Ninth Circuit heard the much anticipated oral arguments earlier this...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court has held that, under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), an employee does not lose the ability to pursue representative claims as an “aggrieved employee” by virtue of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis. On Thursday, September 5, 2019, the Legislature passed AB 51. This bill would ban mandatory arbitration agreements with respect to claims under the Labor Code and the Fair Employment and Housing Act while...more
10/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Supremacy Clause
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court has held that an individual may not seek unpaid wages under Labor Code section 558. Section 558 can be invoked only by the Labor Commissioner or by an individual suing under...more
9/20/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Motion to Compel ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court invalidated an employment arbitration agreement on August 29, 2019. At issue in OTO, LLC v. Kho was an agreement to arbitrate employment claims, including wage claims. Under the...more
9/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Berman Hearings ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fairness Standard ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Preemption ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Everything was smooth sailing with your latest greatest arbitration agreement, but then an employee refused to get on board. What do you do now? Keep reading for a primer on navigating some murky waters....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has invalidated an arbitration agreement between a law firm and its “partner” because the agreement restricted the scope of arbitral relief available and made pre-arbitration proceedings...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit, following the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, has upheld the validity of class-action waivers in Uber’s arbitration agreement, and has held that a named...more
10/10/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Illusory Contracts ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
Opt-Outs ,
Ridesharing ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis. Pending California legislation would make a mandatory arbitration agreement an unlawful practice under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and a crime. How could that be consistent with the Federal...more
8/7/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
FEHA ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Supremacy Clause
Seyfarth Synopsis: In OTO, LLC v. Kho, the California Labor Commissioner challenged a car dealership’s mandatory arbitration agreement. The agreement required employment disputes to be arbitrated under normal civil litigation...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs cannot circumvent arbitration agreements by characterizing claims for statutory damages as claims for civil penalties. The purported PAGA exemption from arbitration agreements applies only to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: No California contractual provision, including one in an arbitration agreement, can waive the statutory right to seek injunctive relief to protect the general public. McGill v. Citibank, N.A. (April 6,...more
4/13/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
CLRA ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Preemption ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has held that unless a collective bargaining agreement includes an explicitly stated, clear and unmistakable, intent to waive the right to a judicial forum for statutory causes of...more
2/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Grievance Process ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lack of Specificity ,
Motion to Compel ,
Nurses ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: An arbitration provision that was provided only in English to a population consisting of one-third Spanish speakers, and that required claimants to bear one-half of arbitration expenses, was unenforceable...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court, in Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, deviated from rulings of most federal circuit courts to hold that the question of “who decides” whether class arbitration is available—courts...more
8/2/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Harassment ,
Motion to Compel ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation
Many companies doing business in California have implemented arbitration agreements for resolving disputes with their employees. Companies headquartered in states other than California often prefer to use the law of their own...more
The traditional posture of California employers apprehensive about “gotcha” wage and hour claims is to hunker down and wait for the next lawsuit. But a few brave souls have taken the offensive. We celebrate two examples here....more