Author: calmediation

Arbitration, FINRA, FAA: Ninth Circuit Holds Arbitration Award Must Be Vacated Because The Arbitration Hearing Was Chaired By An Impostor

Ninth Circuit Allows Equitable Tolling For Claim To Vacate Award Brought More Than Four Years After Entry Of Award. Fraud against Truth.  Currier & Ives.  1872.  Library of Congress.       Yikes! In 2009, Move, Inc. lost a multi-million dollar securities claim before a three-member FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) arbitration panel.  In 2014, Move learned […]

Arbitration, PAGA: Third District Says Whether Representative PAGA Claims Can Be Subject To Mandatory Arbitration Remains Unsettled, And Doesn’t Settle It

November 3, 2016 · Arbitration: PAGA

Unlike The Arbitration Agreement In Iskanian, The Agreement Here Did Not Include A Waiver Of The Right To Bring A PAGA Representative Claim.      The Court in Eaton v. Big League Dreams Manteca, LLC, C079374 (Third District 11/2/16) (Renner, Nicholson, Murray) (unpublished) addresses an issue that some may have thought was settled after Iskanian:  whether […]

Arbitration, Employment, FAA, Class, Waiver: Petition For Certiorari To SCOTUS Filed In NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.

  The Circuits Disagree About Class Action Waivers In Arbitration, The NLRA, And Prohibition Of “Concerted Activities” In Pursuit Of Employees’ “Mutual Aid Or Protection”.      On October 11, 2016, I blogged that on September 8, a petition for a writ of certiorari had been filed by the accounting firm in Morris v. Ernst & […]

Arbitration, FAA, Pending Cases: SCOTUS Grants Cert Petition In Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark

Petitioner And Respondent Frame Issue Quite Differently.      I wrote about Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark in an August 5, 2016 post, stating that the nursing company petitioning from the Kentucky Supreme Court to SCOTUS presented the issue thusly: ”Whether the FAA preempts a state-law contract rule that singles out arbitration by requiring […]

FAA, Pending Cases: Tamko Building Products v. Hobbs Cert Petition Presents FAA Preemption Issue To SCOTUS

Is There A Meaningful Distinction Between Contract Enforcement And Contract Formation For Purposes Of FAA Preemption?      Kate Howard’s October 26, 2016 post about “Petitions To Watch” in Scotusblog notes that an arbitration case, Tamko Building Products, Inc. v. Hobbs, No. 15-1318, is up for consideration at the conference of October 28, 2016.      According […]

Mediation, Confidentiality, Family Law: Lacking Mediation Privilege, Unmediated Spousal Settlement Is Set Aside Because Presumption Of Undue Influence Applied

Here’s A Good Example Of Why It Is Harder To Set Aside A Mediated Spousal Settlement Than An Unmediated, Negotiated Settlement.      In Marriage of Cooke, B257791 (2/7 10/17/16) (Segal, J.) (unpublished), the wife moved for entry of a stipulation for judgment that she and her husband signed.  The opinion rather vividly describes the the […]

Arbitration, PAGA: Employer Cannot Compel Arbitration Of “Underlying” Labor Code Violations In Order To Stay PAGA Litigation

October 21, 2016 · Arbitration: PAGA

California Courts Have Repeatedly Held That PAGA Claims Are Between  Employee Acting On Behalf of State, And Employer, And Therefore Arbitration Cannot Be Compelled By Employer.      Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348 (2014) held, “[A] PAGA claim lies outside the FAA’s coverage because it is not a dispute between an […]

Arbitration/Fees: Court Affirms Denial Of Attorney Fees In Arbitration Because Claimant Went To Wrong Decider And Waited To Long

October 20, 2016 · Arbitration: Fees

Fees Request Treated As “Hot Potato” By Arbitrator And Judge.      A nice post dated October 20, 2016 in California Attorney’s Fees summarizes the convoluted procedure in Miceli v. Staples, Inc., Case No D070676 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 20, 2016) (unpublished), describing the case as one “where the arbitrator and court tossed an attorney’s […]

Arbitration, FAA: Ninth Circuit Holds That Uniformed Services Employment And Reemployment Rights Act Of 1994 Does Not Prohibit Compelled Arbitration Of Arbitration Of Claims Arising Under Its Provisions

Substantive Rights Created By USERRA Are Not Lost By Arbitrating.      On the one hand, on the other hand . . . On the one hand, there is a liberal federal policy favoring arbitration agreements.  On the other hand, the Federal Arbitration Act’s arbitration mandate can be “overridden by a contrary congressional command.”       Does […]