Majority Rejects State Law Rule That Ambiguous Contracts Are Interpreted Against The Drafter Because . . . Frank Varela, an employee of Petitioner Lamps Plus, Inc., sued Lamps Plus because a hacker tricked Varela's employer into disclosing tax information about 1,300 employees. Mr. Varela was understandably miffed after a fraudulent income tax return was […]
Alternative Dispute Resolution And Alternative Facts, As Peace Comes To Westeros. Elmo of Sesame Street has provided us with a model for dispute resolution between Queen Cersei and Tyrion Lannaster in Game of Thrones: The best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) is never a pretty picture in Game of […]
First District, Division Two Affirms Trial Court's Order Denying Petition To Compel Arbitration And Stay Proceedings. In many ways, the next case fits the template of a typical case in which unconscionability is found to be a defense to enforcement of an arbitration clause. The Court of Appeal noted that the parties agreed, for […]
Justice Segal Dissents. An employee can impliedly accept an arbitration agreement by continuing to work for his or her employer. But what happens when the employee explicitly rejects the arbitration agreement yet continues to work, after the employer has said that continuing to work will bind the employee to arbitration? The trial court […]
Choice-Of-Law Provision Is Interpreted To Exclude Special Rules Limiting The Authority Of Arbitrators Where The Federal Arbitration Act Governed The Agreement. California Labor Code section 229 provides that wage disputes "may be maintained without regard to the existence of any private agreement to arbitrate." In Bravo v. RADC Enterprises, Inc., B289506 (2/8 3/29/19) (Wiley, Grimes, […]