1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel directed NLRB regions to seek preemptive injunctions for alleged unlawful threats during union campaigns. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum...more
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 is expected to be signed into law soon by President Biden and will amend the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to allow employees who are bound by...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
In a major turn of events for California employers, on December 15, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that challenges California’s ban on arbitration agreements that limit employees’ right to sue their...more
Generally, the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) has routinely been enforced by the balance of the nation’s courts over the years, as it codifies accepted deference to parties’ contracts and agreements and has been held to...more
On December 15, the U.S. Supreme Court changed course and announced that it would decide whether representative claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (known as “PAGA”) can be waived by an otherwise...more
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: The data and analysis from workplace class action rulings, case filings, and settlements showed that change is the new normal in 2020-2021. As many pro-business precedents continued to roll out and take...more
Given the ever increasing number of wage-hour class and collective actions being filed against employers, it is no surprise that may employers have turned to arbitration agreements with class and collective action waivers as...more
Even after the Supreme Court’s favorable decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (“Epic”), California courts will not compel a PAGA claim to arbitration. In Collie v. The Icee Co., a former employee of The Icee Company,...more
On May 21, 2018, in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld class action waivers in arbitration agreements, ruling that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) instructs “federal courts to...more
In many private arbitration agreements entered into in the non-union context, employers and employees agree that the proceedings shall remain confidential. On June 19, 2020, the Board addressed whether a confidentiality...more
On March 26, the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association, represented by Ballard Spahr, filed an amicus brief in support of petitions for certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review the Ninth...more
The California Legislature’s attempt to circumvent both the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Epic Systems by crafting a new law prohibiting California employers from requiring...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The second key trend from our 16th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. Over the past few years, the Supreme Court has issued a number of rulings that...more
In a recent appeal directly to the Fifth Circuit from a Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, the court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration. In Henry v. Educational Financial...more
California has once again passed pro-employee legislation, this time making it increasingly challenging for California employers to use mandatory arbitration agreements, including one containing a class waiver. Absent limited...more
On August 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Cordua Restaurants, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 43, expanding upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s Epic Systems v. Lewis ruling last year regarding collective...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently provided guidance in Cordúa Restaurants, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 43, for employers seeking to require employees to sign class action and collective action waivers in arbitration...more
In its groundbreaking decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 584 US ___, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018), the Supreme Court held that the National Labor Relations Act permits employer/employee agreements that contain class- and...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
May 21, 2019, marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, which upheld the use of class action waivers in employee arbitration agreements....more
A year ago, the United States Supreme Court issued its seminal decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, which confirmed that employers may use mandatory individual arbitration agreements without fear of the National Labor Relations...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
When an employee signs an individual arbitration agreement, they agree to go through arbitration as opposed to filing a lawsuit if a legal issue arises in the workplace. As one can imagine, these agreements are regularly the...more