Employment Law This Week®: Sexual Orientation Bias, Religious Discrimination, At-Will Employment Provision, Class Arbitration
A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") bars class arbitration actions when the agreement is ambiguous about the availability of such arbitration. The opinion strengthens protections...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court extended its prior rulings looking skeptically at the idea of classwide arbitration, holding that even when an agreement is “ambiguous” about the availability of classwide arbitration, such...more
The interplay between arbitration agreements and employment-based class actions has been the subject of extensive and often conflicting legal opinions for the last half-decade. While many hoped the issue would gain clarity...more
The United States Supreme Court is taking another bite at the arbitration waiver apple. In addition to its landmark decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, where the Supreme Court held that class and collective action...more
When is “silence” in an arbitration clause concerning class arbitration not “Stolt-Nielsen silence”? And what is the difference between a “claim” and a “procedure”? The Ninth Circuit seemingly took hair-splitting to a new...more
In a recent series of articles, we asked whether “class arbitration” — meaning the utilization of a Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 class action protocol in an arbitration proceeding — is ultimately viable. Given the nature of...more
We recently began a series of articles in which we ask whether “class arbitration” — meaning the utilization of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 class action protocol in an arbitration proceeding — is ultimately viable,...more
“Class arbitration” — the utilization of a class action mechanism in an arbitration proceeding — is considered by some to be the unicorn of ADR; desirable but elusive. Another view is that it is the Frankenstein’s monster of...more
As we stated previously, the potential impact of whether entitlement to class arbitration is a “gateway issue” will likely diminish with each passing year. (See our March 12, 2015, blog article on the denial of certiorari in...more
In a Special Focus article Rollie Goss previews another arbitration case coming before the United States Supreme Court involving the issue of whether a class arbitration waiver is unconscionable, and the impact of such a...more
Applying the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Oxford Health Plans v. Sutter, the 11th Circuit affirmed an arbitrator’s conclusion that the parties’ agreement permitted class-wide arbitration....more
On June 20, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled for American Express in a closely watched class action case. In American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant (No. 12-133), the Court ruled on a 5-3 vote (with Justice Sotomayor...more