Is the Ninth Circuit Ruling Fair? Nurses sued Aya Healthcare for wage violations. Each nurse had signed an individual arbitration agreement. Four disputes went to separate arbitrations; two arbitrators upheld the agreements, two struck them down as unconscionable. The district court applied non-mutual offensive collateral estoppel — using the two invalidating awards to void 255 […]
Sarbanes-Oxley Federal Whistleblower Claim Is Precluded By Issues Decided In Arbitration, Though Employees Are Protected Against Mandatory Arbitration Of Whistleblower Claims. Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provides whistleblower protections, including protection against mandatory arbitration. Can issues decided against a former Tesla employee in arbitration preclude the employee's relitigation of issues in a […]
This Case Makes It Easier For Employers To Beat Back PAGA Lawsuits When Employee Loses Labor Code Claims In Arbitration — The Legal Tool Is Issue Preclusion. In Julian Rodriguez v. Lawrence Equipment, Inc., B325261 (2/3 pub. 11/8/24) (Bershon, Edmon, Egerton), the plaintiff, Julian Rodriguez, alleged wage-and-hour violations under California’s Labor Code and pursued […]
Trial Court's Denial Of Right To Amend Was Error. The Rocha brothers, Thomas and Jimmy, sued their former employer U-Haul Co. of California, and their manager Sandusky, alleging Sandusky had harassed them at work. The matter was arbitrated and the brothers lost their claim against U-Haul. However, before the matter went to arbitration, the […]
Thirty-Nine Page Slip Opinion Hinges On Issue Of Waiver. The Court of Appeal addresses a variety of issues in the context of a complicated procedural history in Desert Regional Medical Center v. Leah Miller and Desert Regional Medical Center v. Lynn Fontana, E076058 and E076069 (4/2 1/6/23) (Codrington, Ramirez, Raphael). The procedural history […]
Trial Judge No. 1 Found The Arbitration Agreement Enforceable, No. 2 Found It Enforceable, And Court Of Appeal Agreed With No. 2. Chris Mills sued his former employer for disability discrimination and related employment claims. Employer FSG successfully enforced an arbitration agreement, the trial judge holding unconscionable provisions in the agreement were severable. An […]
An Issue Of First Impression. In NTCH-WA, Inc. v. ZTE Corporation, Inc. v. ZTE Corporation, No. 17-35833 (9th Cir. 4/25/19) (Gould, Paez, Pregerson), the Court of Appeals held that an arbitration award and its confirmation by a district court in Florida, barred plaintiff NTCH-WA from pursuing claims against ZTE Corp. under the doctrine of […]
Ferguson v. Camarillo Health Care District, B281856 (2/6 11/28/18) (Tangeman, Gilbert, Yegan) (unpublished). When a an opinion begins, "Calling it an 'unproductive waste of time,' attorney Ralph T. Ferguson did not participate in mandatory arbitration of a fee dispute with his client Camarillo Health Care District (CHCD). The arbitrators ruled in favor of […]
Arbitration Cases Fly Under The Radar. In recent years, I have concentrated more on published arbitration cases than on unpublished cases — first, because the unpublished cases are not citable in California state courts, and second, because there are simply so many of them. However, today, I have gathered five unpublished cases appearing […]
Same Was The Case If The Arbitrator Awarded Nonrecoverable Costs. Without saying the arbitrator made a mistake, the Court of Appeal explains in Dyna, LLC v. GreatCall, Inc., D071003 (4/1 10/10/17) (McConnell, Haller, O'Rourke) (unpublished), "even if the arbitrator erred by ignoring the res judicata effect of a prior arbitration award or […]