The U.S. House of Representatives on November 19, 2021, passed the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), ambitious climate protection/social spending legislation that now awaits deliberation in the Senate. Tucked inside the...more
Since the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, which deemed class action waivers in employment agreements permissible, employers have increasingly relied upon mandatory arbitration provisions to limit...more
On August 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling clarifying several mandatory arbitration issues following the 2018 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Epic Systems Corp. v....more
In a significant decision for employers, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provided new guidance addressing the intersection of arbitration agreements and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB’s recent...more
The Supreme Court held last year in Epic Systems v. Lewis that mandatory arbitration agreements requiring employees to arbitrate claims against their employer on an individual—rather than on a class or collective—basis are...more
On August 14, 2019, the NLRB issued its first decision addressing employer conduct related to mandatory arbitration agreements and Section 7 activity since the Supreme Court decided Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, 584 U.S. __,...more
Gary Fowler and John Jansonius presented "2018 Employment and Labor Law Update: The Year of #MeToo" at the 20th annual Labor & Employment Law Symposium on Oct. 11, 2018 at the Westin Galleria Hotel....more
In a matter of first impression before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals involving an issue left open by the Supreme Court of the United States, a Seventh Circuit panel issued an opinion on a key threshold question of...more
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the fall 2018 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This issue examines the Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems Corp....more
When the Supreme Court ruled recently that the “concerted activities” provision of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) did not make a contractual waiver of “class arbitration” unenforceable, it provided an extensive...more
In its recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis that the National Labor Relations Act does not prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements requiring that employment disputes be subject to...more
In May in its Epic Systems decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of employers to compel individual mandatory arbitration of employment disputes as an alternative to class or collective action litigation....more
Mandatory arbitration agreements for employees have been enforceable for decades. Over the last several years, there has been an ongoing controversy between the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, among others, and the National...more
An extremely close 5-4 ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that employment agreements that state employees must give up their rights to pursue class action claims are legal. The issue reached the Supreme Court from the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that employers may require their employees to resolve wage and hour disputes through one-on-one arbitration instead of through class actions. In Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court...more
On May 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis that arbitration agreements containing class action waivers are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act. 584 U.S. ___ (Dkts. 16-285,...more
May a company ask its employees to enter into agreements to arbitrate disputes and that also waive an employee’s ability to bring a class or collective action on behalf of other present or former employees? On May 21, 2018,...more
On Monday, May 21, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that companies can use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from banding together to bring class action suits over workplace issues....more
A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court decided one of the most highly anticipated employment cases in recent years on May 21, 2018, holding in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis that the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”)...more
On Monday, Justice Gorsuch for the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, together with two companion cases, upholding the use of class and collective action waivers in arbitration...more
The U.S. Supreme Court gave a huge win to employers on May 21, 2018, in its much-anticipated decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, upholding the validity of arbitration agreements that require employees to arbitrate claims...more
The Supreme Court of the United States today greatly enhanced employers' ability to restrict their employees' ability to bring class actions against them. In Epic Systems v. Lewis, the Court, in a 5-4 decision, combined three...more
In its eagerly-awaited opinion in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the U.S. Supreme Court held on May 21 that class action waivers in arbitration agreements between employers and employees do not violate the National Labor...more
The controversy surrounding the validity of employment arbitration agreements with class action waivers has been simmering since at least 2012. Now, with the Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, we have an...more
To the relief of employers across the country, the Supreme Court today ruled in a 5-to-4 decision that class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements do not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and are,...more