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, […]
The Splitting Issue Is Also Pending Before The California Supreme Court. Splitting log, tie-cutting camp, Pie Town, New Mexico. Russell Lee, photographer. June 1940. Library of Congress. There are still Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) issues that need to be definitively resolved. One such issue is the subject of Zakaryan v. The […]
Opinion Explains How Contract And Arbitration Agreement Are Treated As Separate Agreements. Jackpot Harvesting, Inc. v. Applied Underwriters, H044953 (6th Dist. 3/28/19) (Danner, Greenwood, Grover), provides a detailed discussion of whether the court or the arbitrator has authority to enforce an arbitration agreement, and how the concept of "severability" helps the analysis. […]
Language Of Arbitration Agreement Was Sufficient To Require Arbitration, But . . . . In Salgado v. Carrows Restaurants, Inc., B285756 (2/6 2/26/19) (Gilbert, Yegan, Tangeman), the trial court denied employer's motion to compel arbitration, on the grounds that "Defendants have failed to demonstrate that the arbitration agreement applies to a suit that […]
Driver Did Not Need To Cross State Lines To Engage In Interstate Commerce. The Federal Arbitration Act contains a statutory exemption for "contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce." 9 U.S.C. section 1 (italics added). Thus, a truck driver engaged in […]
Marc Alexander (This Blogger) And Mike Hensley Represented Defendants In Their Successful Response To This Appeal. Today* we stray from our usual beat, California mediation and arbitration, to mention an appeal resulting in a partially published opinion. Why? Because this blogger, Marc Alexander, was involved, and because his long-time colleague Mike Hensley, with […]
Evidence Of A Policy Is Not Evidence Of Adherence To The Policy. Plaintiff Juen engaged Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc. (Pinel) to sell his house. Later, Juen sued Pinel, Pinel unsuccessfully moved to compel arbitration, and Pinel appealed. Juen v. Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc., H043230 (6th Dist. 2/6/19) (Grover, Greenwood, Bamattre-Manoukian). The […]
Case Is Remanded So District Court Can Assess Jurisdictional Issue. The plaintiff-appellant Mr. Castro took on a job as a deck hand on ship. His employment agreement contained a mandatory arbitration provision and it required arbitration to occur in and be subject to the procedural rules of American Samoa. After severely injuring himself, […]