News & Analysis as of

CA Supreme Court Employment Contract

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Tiny Fonts, Narrow Holding: California Clarifies When Fine Print Matters

The California Supreme Court’s decision in Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc. resolves a growing split among the lower courts over whether tiny, hard‑to‑read print in an arbitration agreement counts as procedural...more

Sheppard

California Supreme Court Warns That Confidentiality Agreements May Undermine Arbitration Agreements

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When Confidentiality Clauses Undermine Arbitration Agreements - In Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc., --- P.3d --- (Cal. Feb. 2, 2026), the California Supreme Court issued an important decision for employers who seek to...more

Littler

California High Court Limits Use of Formatting and “Fine Print” Arguments to Defeat Arbitration

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The California Supreme Court (the “Court”) has confirmed that an arbitration agreement’s formatting—standing alone—does not render its terms substantively unconscionable, even where the text is difficult to read.1 The Court...more

Thompson Coburn LLP

Fuentes v. Empire Nissan: Heightened Scrutiny for Arbitration Agreement Unconscionability

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In Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc., the California Supreme Court recently issued an opinion calling on courts to “closely scrutinize” arbitration agreements for substantive unconscionability where there is extreme procedural...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

California High Court Says Contract Illegibility Warrants Increased Substantive Scrutiny

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The California Supreme Court held that illegibility and tiny font are matters of procedural, not substantive, unconscionability. However, courts must closely scrutinize the terms of hard-to-read agreements for unfairness, and...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

California Supreme Court “Clarifies” Standard for Enforcement of Illegible Arbitration Agreements

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In employment cases, Plaintiff’s claim that arbitration agreements with small or blurry print should not be enforced as substantively and procedurally unconscionable due to the difficulty in reading the words in the contract....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Arbitration Agreement’s Illegible Print Not Automatically Invalid as Unfair

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The California Supreme Court held in Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc. (Feb. 2, 2026) that small or blurry print in an arbitration agreement does not automatically invalidate the agreement as unconscionable. Instead, the Court...more

Morgan Lewis

California Supreme Court Holds State Law Requiring Timely Payment of Arbitration Fees Not Preempted by FAA

Morgan Lewis on

In Hohenshelt v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court held that Section 1281.98 of the California Arbitration Act (CAA) is not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Section 12.81.98 provides that if a party...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Supreme Court Saves (But Guts) Anti-Arbitration Statute

Hohenshelt v. Golden State Foods Corp., 18 Cal. 5th 310 (2025) - In this closely watched case, the California Supreme Court held that California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1281.98 — a do-or-die statute requiring...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Leeper v. Shipt: Will California Hamper Arbitration in PAGA Employment Lawsuits?

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In Leeper v. Shipt, the California Supreme Court will revisit the ongoing question of whether, and to what extent, employees can pursue litigation in court for violation of the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA),...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

A Simple Payment Error is not a Waiver of the Right to Arbitrate

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I have some good news for California employers seeking to enforce arbitration agreements. The California Supreme Court just held that non-payment of arbitration fees does not automatically waive the right to arbitrate....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

California Supreme Court Rules FAA Does Not Preempt Arbitration Fee Deadline, Rejects Strict Penalties

On August 11, 2025, the Supreme Court of California ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not preempt a state statute requiring employers to timely pay arbitration fees or forfeit the right to arbitration. The...more

Fenwick & West LLP

CA Supreme Court: Federal Arbitration Act Does Not Preempt State Law on Timely Arbitration Fee Payment

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The California Supreme Court recently held in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not preempt a California law that penalizes businesses that have consumer and employee arbitration...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

CA Supreme Court Offers Relief to Employers For Unintentional Arbitration Fee Delays

CDF Labor Law LLP on

Background: The Thirty-Day Arbitration Fee Rule - In 2019, the California legislature amended the California Arbitration Act (CAA) to require the party who drafts an arbitration agreement to pay all required arbitration...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Employers Beware: Employees Are Seeking Damages for Unenforceable Noncompetes

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We have seen a rise in employees going on the offensive and suing their former employers for damages for not informing them that their noncompete is invalid under the applicable state law or for exaggerating the scope of a...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

“Prejudice” No Longer an Element to Determine Waiver of Right to Compel Arbitration

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP on

In 2003, the California Supreme Court adopted a stringent test to determine whether an employer had waived its right to compel arbitration of an employee’s claims.  The most critical, and often determinative, factor was...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Severing Unconscionable Terms in Employment Arbitration Agreements

In August 2000, the California Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling that changed the face of employment arbitration agreements going forward. That case, known as Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services,...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

CA Supreme Court: No Three-Strikes Rule For Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements

CDF Labor Law LLP on

In a recent decision, the California Supreme Court held that courts cannot refuse to enforce arbitration agreements simply by finding that three or more provisions are unconscionable. Rather, courts must use a three-prong...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Future Not Looking Bright For California Employee Nonsolicits

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On Jan. 1, new legislation aimed at curbing the use of unenforceable noncompete agreements took effect in California. The new laws, which impose potentially harsh consequences on employers for requiring employees to sign...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Are You Ready? Notice to Employees of Void CA Non-Competes Required by February 14, 2024

California law has for many years treated agreements that restrain one from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business as void and unenforceable, unless an exception applies. This applies to most non-compete and...more

Holland & Knight LLP

California's New Nationwide Focus on Noncompetition Agreements

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For decades, California has taken arguably the most pro-employee-mobility position on noncompetition and non-solicitation agreements in the country – generally, post-employment noncompetition and non-solicitation agreements...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Discretion: The Better Part of Valor in Defending Against PAGA Claims

CDF Labor Law LLP on

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, employers have been implementing and enforcing arbitration agreements requiring employees to arbitrate their individual Private Attorneys’ General...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

As Supreme Court Hears Argument in Viking River Cruises, PAGA’s Most Consequential Case Faces an Uncertain Future

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, Case No. 20-1573. Wage and hour practitioners, particularly in California, have watched the case with keen interest because it...more

Allen Matkins

Breaching A Contract May Be Wrong But It Isn't Independently Wrongful

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 In 1995, the California Supreme Court held that a plaintiff pursuing a claim for interference with a prospective contractual or economic relationship had to plead that the defendant's conduct was wrongful.  Della Penna v....more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

California Supreme Court Clarifies Pleading Requirements for Claims of Tortious Interference with At-Will Contracts and Adopts...

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Called upon by the Ninth Circuit in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc. to answer two key questions concerning the validity of a settlement provision requiring a party’s termination of a collaboration agreement with a...more

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