Category Archives: FAA

Ninth Circuit Broadly Construes Exemption to Federal Arbitration Act

The Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion that signals some movement in the direction away from enforcing employment-related arbitration agreements. In Miller v. Amazon.com, Case No. 2:21-cv-00204-BJR, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order denying Amazon’s motion to compel arbitration in a case brought by Amazon Flex delivery drivers who made last-leg deliveries of … Continue Reading

July 2023 California Employment Law Notes

We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Enforcement of PAGA Carve Out Suggests Need For New Revisions To Arbitration Agreements PAGA Debt Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy Distributors Not Liable For Unpaid Wages Of … Continue Reading

Enforcement of PAGA Carve Out Suggests Need For New Revisions To Arbitration Agreements

By Tony Oncidi on July 18, 2023 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, California Supreme Court, FAA, PAGA, Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court

Duran v. EmployBridge Holding Co., 92 Cal. App. 5th 59 (2023) In 2014, the California Supreme Court determined that Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claims are immune from arbitration in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC – which, unsurprisingly, led to an avalanche of PAGA claims being filed as plaintiffs’ lawyers scrambled to make their cases … Continue Reading

Court Obliterates California’s Anti-Arbitration Law

By Philippe A. Lebel and Morgan Peterson on February 16, 2023 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, FAA, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Yesterday, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel revisited its own 2021 order and finally struck down California’s anti-mandatory employment arbitration law, Assembly Bill 51 (“AB 51”). In an opinion drafted by the former dissenting judge, Judge Sandra Ikuta, the new majority declared AB 51 was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). The statute in question, … Continue Reading

Employees Attack Arbitration Agreement By Claiming “Not To Recall” Signing It – And Lose!

By Tony Oncidi, Kate Gold, Philippe A. Lebel and Dixie Morrison on February 7, 2023 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, FAA, Labor Code § 925

In recent years, employees (and their lawyers) have taken a variety of approaches to challenging the enforceability of workplace arbitration agreements. One common tactic has been to claim that they “don’t remember signing it” and, therefore, should not be required to arbitrate their claims. And at least one Court in the Second Appellate District has … Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court Says PAGA Representative Action Waivers Are Enforceable After All

By Tony Oncidi, Kate Gold, Philippe A. Lebel and Dylan K. Tedford on June 24, 2022 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, FAA, PAGA, U.S. Supreme Court

On June 15, 2022, in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, Case No. 20-1573,_ U.S. _ (2022), by an 8-1 majority, the U.S. States Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts the California Supreme Court’s central holding in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal. 4th 348 (2014), that actions brought … Continue Reading

Federal Court Strikes Down California’s “Request Arbitration, Go to Jail” Law

By Tony Oncidi, Cole Lewis and Kate Gold on February 12, 2020 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, FAA

On January 31, 2020, Chief United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller enjoined California from enforcing AB 51. This new legislation prohibits employers from requiring their employees to sign arbitration agreements. Last week, the court issued its detailed written opinion explaining the basis for its decision. As we predicted, the Court found that AB 51 is … Continue Reading

California Legislature Targets Employment Arbitration Agreements

By Tony Oncidi, Keith A. Goodwin and Kenneth Sulzer on August 26, 2015 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, FAA, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

It is no secret that California is no friend to arbitration agreements. As the United States Supreme Court noted in its 2011 opinion in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, “California’s courts have been more likely to hold contracts to arbitrate unconscionable than other contracts,” despite directives from the High Court that arbitration agreements must be … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court Tires (For Now) of Playing “Whack-a-Mole” With California Over Arbitration

By Hal Brody and Jose (Joe) Perez on January 21, 2015 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, FAA, Federal Jurisdiction, PAGA

On January 20, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari filed in CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC v. Iskanian, a case in which the California Supreme Court held that waivers of employees’ right to bring representative actions under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) are unenforceable under state law. You … Continue Reading

PAGA Claims and Arbitration – A Federal Court Parts Ways With Iskanian

By Charles J. Stiegler and Laura Reathaford on October 15, 2014 Posted in FAA, PAGA, Supreme Court

The California Supreme Court’s decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, (discussed here), held that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) except as to claims that were made pursuant to the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). PAGA allows aggrieved employees to represent other current and … Continue Reading

Court Holds Arbitration Agreement Requiring Employee to Pay Half of Arbitration Costs is Unconscionable

By Jacklina Len and Laura Reathaford on November 6, 2013 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, FAA

In Chavarria v. Ralphs Grocery Co., No. 11-56673, 2013 WL 5779332 (9th Cir. Oct. 28, 2013), the plaintiff, a former deli clerk, brought a class action against Ralphs for various alleged wage and hour violations of the California Labor Code. As a condition of employment, Chavarria signed an arbitration agreement containing a class action waiver. … Continue Reading

Right To Compel Arbitration Agreement Not Waived If Plaintiff Suffered No Prejudice From Delay

By Charles J. Stiegler and Laura Reathaford on August 26, 2013 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, FAA

In a post last week, we noted a recent trend of federal courts strongly enforcing employment arbitration agreements under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). That trend continues in Richards v. Ernst & Young, LLP, Case No. 11-17530 (9th Cir. Aug. 21, 2013), which holds that a defendant’s pretrial participation in litigation does not, absent prejudice … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Reaffirms Enforceability of Arbitration Agreements Containing Collective Action Waivers In Two FLSA Cases

By Charles J. Stiegler and Laura Reathaford on August 14, 2013 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, Employment Contracts, FAA, FLSA, Wage and Hour

Two recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit have reaffirmed the enforceability of employment-related arbitration agreements containing class action waivers. In Sutherland v. Ernst & Young and Raniere v. Citigroup, Inc. the Second Circuit held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires courts to enforce a valid agreement to arbitrate … Continue Reading

California Court Criticizes Prior Case Law Invalidating Class Action Waivers, Then Punts To State Supreme Court

By Proskauer Rose on August 10, 2012 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, FAA

Truly Nolen of America v. Superior Court, 2012 WL 3222211 (Aug. 13, 2012) California law involving classwide wage-and-hour arbitration continues to evolve in the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), which generally prohibits states from requiring additional due process guarantees (not … Continue Reading

California Court Approves Class Action Waivers In Employment Arbitration Agreements

By Laura Reathaford on June 11, 2012 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, FAA, Wage and Hour

The plaintiff in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, brought a putative class action and a representative action under California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) for various wage and hour violations. During his employment, Iskanian agreed that he would not assert class action or representative action claims against his employer and, instead, agreed to submit … Continue Reading

State Limitations On Arbitration Agreements Are Preempted By Federal Law

By Tony Oncidi on May 1, 2011 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, Employment Law Notes, FAA, Supreme Court

AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011) In this landmark new opinion, the United States Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) prohibits states from conditioning the enforceability of an arbitration agreement on the availability of class action arbitration procedures. Although this case arose in the consumer context (it involved AT&T’s … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court Tips the Scales Back Toward Arbitration

By Proskauer Rose on April 29, 2011 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, Class Actions, FAA, Supreme Court

In a ruling that has garnered significant interest among employers, the U.S. Supreme Court held on Wednesday that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts the California Supreme Court’s efforts to impose heightened unconscionability standards on class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements. This decision may also sound the death knell for similar restrictions imposed by California … Continue Reading

Employee’s $400,000 Jury Verdict Against Urine- Testing Lab Is Upheld

By Tony Oncidi on November 1, 2003 Posted in Drug Policies, Employment Law Notes, FAA, Wrongful Termination

Ishikawa v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 343 F.3d 1129 (9th Cir. 2003) Yasuko Ishikawa, a Delta Airlines flight attendant, was terminated for failing a drug-detection urine test. Because the test had been performed negligently and had no validity, Delta rehired Ishikawa and paid her her lost income. Ishikawa also sued LabOne, the urine-testing laboratory, for negligence, … Continue Reading

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