Category: Arbitration: Employment

Arbitration/Employment/Unconscionability: Second District, Div. 7, Reverses Trial Court, and Finds Employment Agreement Arbitration Requirement Is Not Unconscionable

April 28, 2013 · Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Unconscionability

Court Uses Full Bag Of Tools To Save Arbitration Provision Life boat drill. Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915. Library of Congress. The Courts of Appeal have many tools for interpreting arbitration provisions, including sliding scales for weighing unconscionability, incorporation by reference, application of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, […]

Arbitration/Employment/Choice of Law/Preemption: Massachusetts Choice of Law Enables Court of Appeal to Uphold Denial of Petition to Arbitrate Employment Discrimination Claims

April 8, 2013 · Arbitration: Choice of Law, Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Federal Arbitration Act

Waiver of Right to Trial of Employment Claims Was Not Clear and Unequivocal One of the hottest areas of contention concerning arbitration is the waiver of statutory rights through arbitration, and whether such a waiver is preempted under AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011). In Harris v. Bingham McCutchen, B240522 (2nd Dist. […]

Arbitration/Employment/Unconscionability: Second District, Division 8 Tanks Employment Arbitration Provision On Basis of Unconscionability

March 23, 2013 · Arbitration: Class, Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Unconscionability

Main Problem is One-Sidedness of Arbitration Provision Compton v. Superior Court, Case No. BC448343 (2nd Dist. Div. 8 March 19, 2013) (published) starkly presents the conflicting views of judges confronted with deciding whether an employment arbitration provision is unconscionable. Leasa Compton appealed the order granting her former employer, American Management Services’s (AMS’s) petition […]

Arbitration/Employment/Waiver/FAA: First District, Div. 1, Affirms Judgment Compelling Employee To Arbitrate, Alone, With Macy’s Department Stores, Inc.

January 20, 2013 · Arbitration: Class, Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Federal Arbitration Act, Arbitration: Record, Arbitration: Waiver

Court of Appeal Is Skeptical About Gentry, But Avoids Addressing Gentry Factors, Because Record Was Lacking Macy’s Department Store’s Flagship location in Manhattan, New York. Carol M. Highsmith Collection. Library of Congress. The issue of the enforceability of class action waivers and compulsory arbitration in employment disputes is before the California Supreme […]

Arbitration/Employment: Second District, Division 5 Reverses Trial Court’s Refusal To Enforce Arbitration Agreement In Employment Handbook

January 17, 2013 · Arbitration: Employment

Law Of The Case Allows Court To Duck More Interesting Issues Concerning Arbitrability Of PAGA And UCL Claims Lewis v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc., Case No. B239912 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 January 15, 2013) (Turner, P.J., author) (unpublished), involved the second appeal from the trial court’s refusal to enforce an arbitration agreement between […]

Arbitration/Employment/Enforceability/FAA/CCP 1281.8: Second District, Div. 1 Reverses Order Denying Motion To Compel Arbitration – Mutuality Of Employer/Employee Provisions Is Key

December 21, 2012 · Arbitration: Construction of Agreement, Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Enforceability, Arbitration: Federal Arbitration Act, Arbitration: Unconscionability

“In particular, we do not find unconscionable a provision in the arbitration agreement allowing either party to seek provisional remedies . . . “ For the practitioner, Baltazar v. Forever 21, Inc., Case No. B237173 (2nd Dist. Div. 1 Dec. 20, 2012) (Mallano, J.) (published), is worth reading because it provides employers and employees […]

Arbitration/Employment/FAA/Class Action/Waiver: Second District, Division 1 Holds That Gentry Is Not Overruled By Concepcion or Stolt-Nielsen

November 27, 2012 · Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Federal Arbitration Act, Arbitration: Waiver

Gentry Rides Again! Franco v. Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., Case No. B232583 (2nd Dist. Div. 1 Nov. 11, 2012) (Mallano, J.) (published) is a long, scholarly opinion, containing a probing analysis of what may now be the hottest arbitration issue: how to resolve the collision between a class action waiver in arbitration and vindication of […]

Arbitration/Employment/Unconscionability: Implied Restriction On Employer’s Express Right To Unilaterally Change Arbitration Agreement Saves Arbitration Agreement From Unconscionability Attack

November 7, 2012 · Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Enforceability, Arbitration: Unconscionability

Arbitration Requirement In Employment Contract of Casino Security Director Survives Unconscionability Attack Plaintiff Gatewood sued his former employee Hustler Casino and its owner El Dorado Enterprises, Inc., for various employment-related claims. The employer moved successfully to compel arbitration. Apparently unsatisfied with the arbitration award, Mr. Gatewood appealed the award and the order compelling arbitration […]

Arbitration/Employment/Estoppel/Implied in Fact Agreement: Court of Appeal Concludes That Trial Court Properly Denied Motion to Compel Arbitration With Former HR Director Charged With Getting Employees to Sign Arbitration Provision, Yet Not Signing Herse

October 17, 2012 · Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Enforceability, Arbitration: Equitable Estoppel

Employer’s Equitable Estoppel and Implied-in-Fact Arbitration Agreement Arguments Are Both Rejected Plaintiff, Susan Gorlach, sued her former employer, The Sports Club Company, for wrongful termination, retaliation, paramour sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, breach of contract, and negligence. She did not sign an arbitration agreement. When the employer petitioned to compel arbitration […]

Arbitration/Employment/Enforceability/Record: Unsigned Stand-Alone Arbitration Provision Is Insufficient Evidence To Require Arbitration

September 15, 2012 · Arbitration: Employment, Arbitration: Enforceability, Arbitration: Record

Patchy Record Also Didn’t Help Appellant When footnote 1 of an opinion begins, “Appellants omitted several key documents . . . “, followed by, “We therefore have little information . . . “ it does not augur well for the appellant. An augur holding a lituus, the curved wand often used as a […]