Category: Arbitration: Collective Bargaining

Waiver: Fourth District Div. 2 Holds Lengthy Delay And Failure To Timely Take Affirmative Steps To Arbitrate Results In Waiver Of Right To Arbitrate

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 […]

Arbitration, PAGA, Collective Bargaining: A PAGA Lawsuit Is Barred By A Collective Bargaining Agreement In The Construction Industry

A Statutory Route In California Avoids A Private Attorney General Act Of 2004  (PAGA) Lawsuit In The Construction Industry: Labor Code § 2699.6.         The issue presented in Jerome Oswald v. Murray Plumbing and Heating Corporation, B312736 (2/2  9/2/22) (Lui, Chavez, Hoffstadt), is whether an arbitration clause in a construction industry collective bargaining […]

Arbitration, Enforceability, Delegation: Ninth Circuit Holds Collective Bargaining Agreement As Drafted Did Not Cover Statutory Claims

Ninth Circuit Agrees With District Court That  Labor Dispute Was Not Arbitrable And That Arbitrability Was Properly Decided By The Court.         In Tramon Wilson-Davis v. SSP America, et al., B306781 (2/3  4/9/21) (Edmon, Lavin, Egerton), a dishwasher sued his employer, individually and behalf of a putative class, for wage and hour violations. A collective […]

Arbitrability: 9th Circuit Holds Court Decides Arbitrability Of Collective Bargaining Agreement Silent About Arbitrability

Commercial Arbitration And Labor Arbitration Agreements Are To Be Analyzed The Same Way. American Nurses somewhere in England, November 2018. Library of Congress.         When the agreement is silent about who decides whether a dispute is arbitrable, does the court or the arbitrator decide? The court decides. However, 9th Circuit case law created an exception […]

Arbitration, Waiver: Employer Waived Right To Compel Arbitration Under A Collective Bargaining Agreement

Trial Court's Ruling That Delay And Prejudice Resulted In Waiver Is Affirmed.             Nunez v. Nevell Group, Inc., G056585 (4/3  5/2/19) (Fybel, Bedsworth, Goethals), addresses an employer's waiver of right to compel arbitration of violations of a wage order under a Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Court affirms the trial court's order denying the […]

Arbitration, Collective Bargaining: Cal Supremes Hold Labor Management Relations Act Does Not Require Arbitration Between Giants And Baseball Security Guards

Dispute Only Required Reference To Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Not Interpretation Of It.      I blogged about Melendez v. San Francisco Baseball Associates LLC, on December 18, 2017, when it was still in the Court of Appeal. Baseball security guards had sued the Giants, alleging that the guards were intermittent employees, entitled to be […]

Arbitration, Collective Bargaining: Third District Affirms Orders Denying Employer’s Motions To Compel Arbitration

And Employees' Claims Were Not Preempted By Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (LMRA).     In three consolidated appeals, the Court of Appeal affirms orders denying the employer's motions to compel arbitration. Rymel v. Save Mart Supermarkets, Inc., and related cases, C085863, C085865, C085886 (3rd Dist. 12/31/18) (Duarte, Murray, Hoch).     The employees sued […]

Arbitration, Collective Bargaining,Gateway Issues: 9th Circuit Rules That Arbitrator’s And District Court’s Confusion Over Arbitrability And Merits Determination Requires Reversal Of Court And Vacation Of Award

Majority, Concurring, And Dissenting Opinions. Siegfried & Roy in their private apartment at the Mirage Hotel on the Vegas Strip, with one of their performing white lions. Photographer: Carol M. Highsmith. Library of Congress.       Judge Bucklo, sitting by designation, describes the appeal of a labor arbitration award as "surprisingly nuanced", an "analytical puzzle" and […]

Collective Bargaining, Standard Of Review: 9th Circuit Concludes Arbitrator Acted Within His Authority When Reforming Labor Agreement To Cure Mutual Mistake

And Judge Ikuta Dissents.     The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order confirming an arbitration award in favor of a union seeking relief concerning a bonus provision in the parties' collective bargaining power. The employer had argued that the arbitration award was invalid because the arbitrator reformed the Basic Labor Agreement (BLA) between the […]

Arbitration/Collective Bargaining/Administrative: Cal Supreme Court Holds That Compulsory Interest Arbitration In Private Sector Is Constitutional

Compulsory Interest Arbitration Withstands Challenges That It Is Unconstitutional And An Improper Delegation Of Legislative Authority.         In 2002, California enacted  "Mandatory Mediation and Conciliation"  (MMC) provisions to facilitate negotiating and completing collective bargaining agreements between agricultural employees and growers.  As the label MMC suggests, it is an unusual scheme, since "mandatory" and "mediation" […]