Court Refuses To Extend Camargo v. California Portland Cement Co. To Avoid Preclusive Effect Of Arbitration Award Camargo v. California Portland Cement Co., 86 Cal.App.4th 995 (2001) holds a labor arbitration pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has no preclusive effect on a claim pursuant to the Fair Employment and Housing Act […]
In Dictum, Court Suggests Armendariz Is No Longer Good Law Mercado v. Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, Inc., Case No. F064478 (5th Dist. July 26, 2013) (Hill, P.J., author 3:0) (unpublished) offers a routine unconscionability analsysis of an employee agreement to arbitrate. Finding “some degree” of procedural unconscionability, based on an adhesive contract and […]
Employer Didn’t Want To Arbitrate Usually employees want their day in court, and employers try to arbitrate, but our next case presents “the unique situation where . . . the employer refuses to arbitrate, arguing the employee waived her contractual rights to arbitrate.” The Court of Appeal had no difficulty satisfying itself that “substantial […]
Court of Appeal Agrees Defendants Failed To Show Plaintiffs Agreed To Specific Arbitration Agreement Submitted To The Court The lesson from the next case – a published decision – is that employer/employee arbitration documents need to mesh together, and an employer cannot rely on sloppy incorporations by reference. The Court neatly sums up its […]
PAGA Claims Could Not Be Arbitrated Because PAGA Is For The Benefit Of The Public, Not Private Parties In Harvey v. Yellowpages.com, Case No. B239733 (2nd Dist. Div. 1 July 22, 2013) (Mallano, J., author of majority opinion) (unpublished), the Court considered whether the trial court properly denied an employer’s petition to compel arbitration […]
Washington D.C. Bicycle Rental Shop. 1942. Marjory Collins, photographer. Library of Congress. Plaintiff Corbin sued her employer Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc. and its president for harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. The trial judge, who commented about the defendant’s failure to provide the JAMS rules, found the agreement unconscionable, and refused to compel arbitration. […]
Dissenters Worries About Practical Consequences of Arbitrating Furlough Dispute In Budgetary Crisis With this post, I inaugurate a new sidebar category: Collective Bargaining. Facing a fiscal emergency, the City of Los Angeles adopted a mandatory furlough program for its civilian employees. Represented by a union, the employees filed grievances, arguing the furloughs violated […]
Same Issue Is Pending Before California Supreme Court in Iskanian Does the Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011) permit arbitration agreements to override the statutory right to bring representative claims under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA)? That’s the issue pending before the […]
Employer’s Right to Change Dispute Resolution Process Is Held In Check By Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Having just blogged on June 5, 2013, about an opinion authored by Justice Mallano, reversing an order granting a motion to compel arbitration, I now blog about an opinion authored by Justice Mallano, reversing […]
Guidebook Disclaimers Were Self-Destructing In the next case, the Court of Appeal would not let the employer “have its cake and eat it too.” On the one hand, the employee Guidebook provided for arbitration. On the other hand, the employee Guidebook contained disclaimers that relieved the employer of contractual obligations. The employer could […]