California Employment News: The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
Podcast: California Employment News - The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
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Arbitration Clauses in Employee Contracts and Beyond
A significant number of employers are opting to elect mandatory arbitration of potential disputes with employees as an alternative to state or federal courts. In some circumstances, arbitration can be quicker than litigation,...more
When a “dispute” arises under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) depends on when the specific facts of the case show a “conflict or controversy” exists between the parties, the...more
Suspense builds as the end of the Michigan Supreme Court’s 2023-2024 term approaches quickly, with scores of argued appeals still unresolved. The 40 appeals that remain undecided reveal interesting trends in the court’s...more
In a recent ruling, a California appeals court found an arbitration agreement with an eyewear store employee that was presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis required an arbitrator to apply the laws of another state,...more
After four long years of litigation, AB 51, intended to prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements, has been permanently enjoined. California companies may rejoice in a rare win allowing enforceable arbitration agreements to...more
There are times when one would rather not be proven right. Nearly four years ago, a California district court invalidated AB 51, which sought to prohibit mandatory arbitration by, among other things, calling for criminal...more
Arbitration agreements are a powerful tool used by many employers to compel the utilization of arbitration as a means of alternative dispute resolution. Arbitration allows the parties of a claim to resolve the dispute...more
Avid readers of Stokes Wagner’s legal updates may be familiar with California’s Assembly Bill 51, a law that, until very recently, prohibited California employers from requiring employees or job applicants to sign arbitration...more
On February 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a 2020 California law that attempted to prohibit employers from requiring employees and job applicants to agree to arbitration as a condition of employment. The...more
On October 26, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Rourke v. Herr Foods, Inc. once again confirmed that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts the 2019 amendment to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)...more
The panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that largely upheld California’s law banning mandatory arbitration agreements in the employment context just withdrew its decision. On August 22, 2022, two of the three...more
Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that an employee’s sworn statement that she never electronically signed (or even saw) an arbitration agreement during the onboarding process were,...more
If you have an arbitration agreement, do you have to compel arbitration when the lawsuit is filed or can you wait awhile? This week, the Supreme Court concluded that a party litigating in federal court cannot later compel...more
In Hawkins, et al. v. Cintas Corp., No. 21-3156, __ F.4d __ (2022), plaintiffs brought a class action pursuant to Section 502(a)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), alleging that their former employer...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, limiting the use of mandatory employment arbitration agreements. Until now, under the...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021,” (“the Act”) with bipartisan support. The Act is a piece of landmark legislation and the...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the "Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act" (“the Act”), also referred to as the "#MeToo Act." ...more
On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the Act), drastically limiting the scope of pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class/collective...more
In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this second day of the holidays, my labor and employment...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
In a split 2-1 decision that likely raises more questions than it answers, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cast some doubt upon the ability of employers to implement mandatory arbitration agreements with their employees....more
- The Ninth Circuit rules that portions of Assembly Bill 51 are not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and lifts a lower court’s injunction that barred the law from taking effect. - The court did rule that...more
In an issue of first impression, on April 8, 2021, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that an arbitration clause in an employment contract that waives appellate review is enforceable....more
Some employers concerned about the risks and expenses that accompany employment litigation instead require their workers to agree to mandatory arbitration of employment claims. Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
Mandatory arbitration clauses for employment disputes have received a great deal of attention in recent years. In the First Circuit, there is now more clarity regarding the factors used to determine the enforceability of...more