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Employment arbitration agreements are an important tool for employers who wish to resolve workplace disputes in a more streamline fashion and, more importantly, avoid class and collective actions. However, enforcing...more
In the long-awaited newest chapter of case law discussing the validity and enforceability of arbitration clauses and class action waivers, the Ninth Circuit on October 28, 2024, dealt a setback, though not a fatal blow, to...more
In an important decision regarding the size and potential scope of a putative class, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently granted a defendant’s motion to exclude from a class action all...more
A Single Incident Of Harassing Conduct May Create A Hostile Work Environment - Beltran v. Hard Rock Hotel Licensing, Inc., 97 Cal. App. 5th 865 (2023) - Stephanie Beltran, a server at the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm...more
Welcome back to the Class Action & MDL Roundup! This edition covers notable class actions from the third quarter of 2023. In this edition, a mistake is just a mistake, “99.99%” isn’t 100% clear, and faxes aren’t always...more
Since its enactment in 2010, California’s Automatic Renewal Law (ARL) has motivated an ever-increasing number of putative class action complaints. The latest surge is due in large part to amendments that went into effect last...more
Welcome back to the Class Action & MDL Roundup! This edition covers notable class actions from the first quarter of 2023. In this edition, in pork we antitrust, paid time off is not pay, and if it’s free, it won’t cost...more
On February 19, 2021, the Ninth Circuit upheld a district court’s grant of a motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action lawsuit alleging violations of various California consumer protection statutes. The court...more
On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit announced a new standard by which a district court should evaluate whether notice of an FLSA collective action should be sent to employees who may be...more
Valid arbitration agreements may prevent class notices from being sent to employees that would otherwise be putative class members in collective action lawsuits according to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Bigger v....more
On January 24, 2020, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the second federal appellate court to address whether notice of a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may be sent to individuals who...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently articulated a new statutory framework for determining whether notice to a putative plaintiff should be issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). At...more
The Ninth Circuit recently denied a motion to compel arbitration after concluding that an arbitration agreement “buried” in difficult to access terms for a smartphone app did not put users on constructive notice that they...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued the following decision this morning: Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, No. 17-988: Respondent Frank Varela, an employee of petitioner Lamps Plus, brought a putative class action in...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has pointed out consistently in recent years that the relatively new construct of “class arbitration” is very different from your uncle’s classic bilateral arbitration. (“Class arbitration” signifies...more
Wage and Hour - Decision Upholds Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Clauses, Resolves Circuit Split - The U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis on May 21, 2018, holding that...more
Boxing fan Victor Mallh, attempting to take a class action swing at Showtime Networks for failures in its livestream broadcast of the Mayweather/McGregor fight in August of this year, will have to pursue his claim in...more
After an employer allegedly released personally identifiable information of its employees as the result of a phishing scam, plaintiff employee filed a putative class action lawsuit, alleging claims including negligence,...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: When the California Supreme Court said no to PAGA waivers in its 2014 Iskanian ruling, we asked whether employers would boldly go where few have gone before and implement arbitration agreements requiring...more
On July 13, 2016, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel held that an arbitration clause is not waived simply because a party failed to raise a futile argument. The case arose out of a putative class action...more
A New Jersey appellate court affirmed an order dismissing a class action and compelling individual (non-class) arbitration. The underlying arbitration agreements provided that the defendant car dealership would pay all costs...more
In early April, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals considered whether an arbitration agreement was “a written provision” for purposes of the Federal Arbitration Act where the parties modified the contract through their...more
In recent years, arbitration has become a divisive issue. Exemplifying the increased public focus on arbitration, The New York Times ran a three-part series in 2015 that was very critical of the state of arbitration law. In...more
The Second Circuit affirmed a New York district court ruling that found that the FINRA arbitration rules, one of which prohibits arbitration of putative or collective class actions, was incorporated within the subject...more