Employment Law This Week®: Sexual Orientation Bias, Religious Discrimination, At-Will Employment Provision, Class Arbitration
As this blog has previously discussed, the availability of class arbitration has been significantly restricted after a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. However, we have also noted that express preclusion of class...more
Add the Fifth Circuit to the growing list of Federal Circuit Courts that have decided that “class arbitrability” is a gateway question for a court, rather than an arbitrator, to decide in the first instance, absent the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued two 5-4 decisions in as many months regarding class procedures. Lamp Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 587 U. S. ____ (2019) was favorable to corporate defendants by limiting the availability of class...more
On April 24, 2019, in a 5-4 decision split along ideological lines, the Supreme Court held in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela that class arbitration is not available where arbitration agreements are unclear about whether the...more
Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements are enforceable. But, the ruling did not address an agreement that is silent or ambiguous regarding the intent to...more
In a case with important implications for employers, Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, the United States Supreme Court held that class-wide arbitration may not be compelled pursuant to an arbitration agreement that is ambiguous as...more
In 2016, a hacker tricked an employee of petitioner Lamps Plus Inc. into disclosing tax information of about 1,300 company employees. ...more
In last year’s Epic Systems decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) allows mandatory arbitration agreements that preclude class or collective action claims. In other words, a party to the...more
Over the past several years, the U.S. Supreme Court has been expanding the enforceability of arbitration agreements and making it easier for employers to keep employment claims out of court. In its landmark Epic Systems...more
On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision touching a number of hot button issues and litigation threats facing American businesses — including class actions, arbitration agreements and data...more
In a 2010 decision, Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. Animalfeeds International Corp., the United States Supreme Court held that parties may not be compelled to submit to class arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) unless...more
Consistent with prior US Supreme Court opinions, the Supreme Court held on April 24, 2019, that contractual ambiguity regarding class arbitration may not be construed against the drafter because of Federal Arbitration Act...more
The US Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lamps Plus means that parties with arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act may now compel arbitration without worrying that the court will order class...more
Ambiguous language in an arbitration agreement is not a sufficient basis for concluding a party has agreed to class arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week....more
The Supreme Court ruled on April 24, 2019 that an arbitration agreement which is ambiguous as to whether the parties had agreed to class arbitration was insufficient to require a party to participate in class arbitration. ...more
On April 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, held that an agreement ambiguous as to whether arbitration had been agreed for class claims as well as individual claims...more
On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Lamps Plus v. Varela that should be of interest to the maritime industry. Even though our industry has long relied upon mandatory arbitration clauses in its...more
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
Nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis affirming the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration agreements between employers and employees (our alert on the...more
On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court struck another blow to employees who seek to arbitrate class claims against their employer under employment arbitration agreements. ...more
Employers' use of arbitration agreements continues to gain popularity. Arbitration provides the benefit of more relaxed procedural rules and effectively eliminates the parties' ability to appeal the arbitrator's final...more
On April 24, 2019, the Supreme Court’s decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela made it clear that an arbitration agreement must explicitly contemplate and provide for class arbitration, building on a line of pro-arbitration...more
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on April 24, 2019, that an arbitration agreement in an employment contract that was ambiguous as to the availability of class arbitration could not serve as the basis for the...more
Approximately one year ago, in Epic Systems Corp., the United States Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit employees from bringing employment claims on a class or collective...more
Contracts around the country, concerning every manner of commercial transaction from employment matters to real estate acquisition to consumer purchases, increasingly include a requirement that disputes will be resolved...more