On Monday, May 21, 2018, in a 5-4 opinion, the United States Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in the case, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, on the issue of the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration...more
On May 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States settled the contentious class action waiver issue that has riled courts for the past six years. In a 5-4 opinion, the Court upheld class action waivers in arbitration...more
On Monday, October 2, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in three cases involving the enforceability of employee arbitration agreements that include class/collective action waivers. Since January when the...more
Employers that have class- or collective-action waivers in their employee arbitration agreements (or are contemplating implementing them) need not wait much longer for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether such waivers are...more
On October 2, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in three consolidated cases that will decide the future of class action waivers in the employment context. These cases—National Labor Relations...more
The United States Supreme Court heard a one-hour consolidated oral argument in three arbitration cases involving the intersection of the National Labor Relations Act and the Federal Arbitration Act on October 2, 2017. Epic...more
In an issue of first impression in the state of New York, last week the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (the state’s intermediate appellate court) weighed in on the enforceability of arbitration provisions that...more
In January, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Case No. 16-307, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Case No. 16-285 and Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, Case No....more
The Supreme Court granted petitions for certiorari in three lawsuits challenging the legality of arbitration agreements that bar workers from pursuing class actions. The Court consolidated the cases, Murphy Oil USA Inc., Epic...more
As we previously reported, the Supreme Court granted petitions for certiorari in three lawsuits challenging the legality of arbitration agreements that bar workers from pursuing class actions. The Court consolidated the...more
The United States Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a trio of cases—Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, No. 16-300; and NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA Inc., No. 16-307—to decide on a...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the validity of class action waiver clauses in employment arbitration agreements to resolve a conflict among the federal appellate courts. As our firm has explained in prior blog...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in class action cases involving: (1) class action waivers in employment contracts; and (2) whether filing of a securities class action tolled a statute of repose. In both...more
On January 13, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether employee arbitration agreements containing class/collective action waivers are unlawful and unenforceable. The Court’s decision to consider this issue portends...more
Apologies to Winston Churchill, but the conflict over the enforcement of arbitration agreements with class waivers has become an ongoing legal and ideological struggle. Some view individual arbitration as a quicker and less...more
Last week, the Supreme Court consolidated and agreed to hear three appeals of Circuit Court decisions concerning whether class action waivers contained in employment arbitration agreements infringe on employees’ rights under...more
On Friday, January 13, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to consider arguments over whether employer arbitration policies that prohibit employees from filing class or collective actions are violative of the National Labor...more
The 2016 Presidential election was arguably the most contentious, unpredictable, and politically polarizing race in this nation's history. The contours of the electoral map changed by the hour in the days leading up to...more
The Second Circuit issued a summary order affirming a decision by the Southern District of New York compelling arbitration pursuant to class-action and collective-action waivers contained in an employment arbitration...more
At the end of 2015, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 465, which would have banned mandatory arbitration agreements in the employment setting, including arbitration agreements with class action waivers. As many employers know,...more
In a recent opinion, Morris v. Ernst & Young, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals followed the Seventh Circuit and held that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when they require employees to sign an...more
As a condition of employment, Ernst & Young’s employees were required to sign agreements that contained a “concerted action” waiver requiring employees to pursue legal claims against E&Y exclusively through arbitration, and...more
Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Employer's Class Action Waiver - Morris v. Ernst & Young, LLP, 2016 WL 4433080 (9th Cir. 2016) - As a condition of employment, Stephen Morris and Kelly McDaniel were required to sign...more
In Morris v. Ernst & Young, LLP, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reviewed an arbitration agreement that required employees “as a condition of employment” “to sign agreements not to join with other...more
Ernst & Young’s (“E&Y”) employment agreements contained “separate proceedings” and arbitration provisions, which together required that disputes be resolved individually through arbitration, rather than collectively through...more