Tag Archives: “arbitration agreements”

The Debate Continues: Recent Eighth Circuit Decision Adds to the Growing Tension between Federal Courts and the NLRB Regarding the Enforceability of Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements

By Greg Mersol on January 30, 2013 Posted in Arbitration

Authored by: Ericka Spears Much like a war where each side steadily amasses victories and defeats, the federal courts and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continue to have diverging opinions on the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration agreements. Federal courts have won the most recent battle in the war. In Owen v. … Continue Reading

Courts Continue to Wrestle With Arbitration Issues

By Greg Mersol on December 17, 2012 Posted in Arbitration

Decades ago, Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act to combat the hostility courts showed towards arbitration agreements. Since that time, the Supreme Court has repeatedly pronounced the public policy in favor of the enforcement of such agreements, but lower courts have resisted enforcing them based upon a string of technicalities often created on a case-by-case … Continue Reading

NLRB Judge Follows D.R. Horton Despite Differences In Company’s Arbitration Procedure

By John Lewis on July 12, 2012 Posted in Arbitration

A National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) found a company’s mandatory arbitration agreement violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) despite the fact that its arbitration procedure permitted employees to act concertedly to challenge the terms of the agreement and provided the parties could jointly agree to class claims. On July 2, … Continue Reading

Concepcion Breathes New Life into Class Action Waiver in Arbitration Agreement: California Court of Appeal Affirms Order Compelling Arbitration of Claims on Individual Basis

By Sabrina Shadi on June 8, 2012 Posted in Arbitration

After the California Supreme Court decided Gentry v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 443, class action waivers in arbitration agreements were on life support, with their supporters holding fast to the hope that some modern miracle would come along to resuscitate them. Then along came AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (2011) 113 S.Ct. 1740, and … Continue Reading

Pennsylvania Court Compels Arbitration of Both Class and Collective Action Claims

By Greg Mersol on December 5, 2011 Posted in Arbitration, Class Certification, FLSA, Wage and Hour

Another court has weighed in in favor of enforcing an arbitration agreement containing a class action waiver in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740, 1746 (2011). In Brown v. TrueBlue, Inc.pdf., Case No. 1:10-CV-0514 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 22, 2011), the plaintiffs were … Continue Reading

California Court Finds Concepcion Does Not Apply to Arbitration of PAGA Claims

By Greg Mersol on July 28, 2011 Posted in Arbitration

The battle between California courts and the U.S. Supreme Court over arbitration agreements wages on. Though California courts frequently make perfunctory statements about the strong public policy in favor of arbitration agreements, these statements are undercut by the many cases in which the courts appear to bend over backwards to find arbitration agreements unconscionable or … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Holds That Class Action Waivers In Arbitration Agreements Are Enforceable

By Greg Mersol on April 27, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized

The Supreme Court has now held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. section 2, preempts state laws that would condition arbitration agreements on the availability of class action arbitration procedures. AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion.pdf, 563 U.S. ____ (April 27, 2011). This new holding overturns prior holdings from California as well as other jurisdictions, and … Continue Reading