In this issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss recent developments in arbitration and their impact on employment class actions. These include the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault...more
6/29/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforceability ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
SCOTUS ,
Severance Agreements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage Statements
Bilateral arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) may require arbitration of California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims on an individual basis only, the U.S. Supreme Court has held....more
Individuals employed as ramp workers who frequently handle cargo for an airline are “transportation workers” exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), the U.S. Supreme Court has held. Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, No....more
6/8/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Over-Time ,
SCOTUS ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Supervisors ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour
A party is not required to show prejudice to establish that an opposing party has waived its right to arbitrate by litigating in court, the U.S. Supreme Court has held in a unanimous decision....more
A federal court must have an independent jurisdictional basis to confirm or vacate an arbitration award and cannot “look through” to the underlying dispute to establish jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a case...more
In December 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana (Viking). The question presented in Viking is whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of a bilateral...more
On March 3, 2022, President Joe Biden signed a law that limits the use of predispute arbitration agreements and class action waivers covering sexual assault and sexual harassment claims....more
Last year, a divided Ninth Circuit panel found that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) did not completely preempt Assembly Bill (AB) 51, California’s ban on mandatory arbitration agreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce then...more
A new law making predispute arbitration agreements and class action waivers covering sexual assault and sexual harassment claims invalid and unenforceable has passed in Congress and is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk....more
Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on February 7, 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4445) would amend the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to make predispute...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of a bilateral arbitration agreement mandating that claims be brought on an individual basis and that employees may...more
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (H.R. 5376) by a vote of 220–213. Supported by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats, the controversial bill heads to the Senate for...more
11/30/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Child Care ,
Clean Energy ,
Employee Contributions ,
Energy Storage ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an ex-Tinder employee must arbitrate her claims against her former employer and cannot pursue her claims in court, even though her claims arose before she executed an...more
The California legislature has passed and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a number of bills that address wage and hour practices and other issues affecting California employers. All bills take effect January 1, 2022, unless...more
10/22/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Disclosure ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Grand Theft ,
Independent Contractors ,
Manufacturers ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
OSHA ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Quotas ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Warehouses ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Safety
As suggested by its previous motion, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a petition for rehearing en banc after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) did...more
Following the decision of a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Chamber of Commerce of the U.S., et al. v. Bonta, et al., to reverse, in part, a district court’s order and vacate the district...more
The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) only partially preempts California’s bar on mandatory arbitration agreements in employment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held, vacating the preliminary injunction that...more
Unions are successfully targeting workers in the technology industry, even as employees transition to a more remote workplace during the pandemic.
In this episode, we discuss the evolution of unionization in the tech...more
In a significant victory for California employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a $102 million award against Walmart in a suit alleging that the retailer violated the California Labor Code’s wage...more
California law is not typically seen as amiable to compelling employees to arbitrate their claims. However, in Franklin v. Community Regional Medical Center, ___ F.3d___(9th Cir. 2021), the Ninth Circuit panel upheld a motion...more
2020 presented a myriad of challenges for California employers, including the constant march of California court opinions regarding the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims.
The California courts focused on two...more
“What if neither party to an arbitration agreement places initials next to a jury waiver contained in the agreement, even though the drafter included lines for their initials?” asked the California Court of Appeal in Martinez...more
On June 8, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the employer’s petition for certiorari in OTO, LLC v. Kho.
As background, in 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled in OTO that the arbitration agreement at issue was not...more
On January 31, 2020, a U.S. District Court preliminarily enjoined the enforcement of Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51) against arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). As enacted, AB 51 would prohibit...more
The State of California has filed a notice of appeal of the district court’s decision granting a preliminary injunction enjoining the State from enforcing Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51) against employment arbitration agreements...more