Panel Is Very Critical Of Confidentiality Provisions In Sexual Harassment Dispute With Arbitration Provision. Some California Appellate panels and justices make it a practice to neatly summarize the opinion in the first paragraph. I like that practice. Our next case, in which the Court of Appeal issued a peremptory writ of mandate issue directing […]
Court of Appeal Also Held That Trial Court Properly Declined To Require Arbitration Of FEHA Claim For "Public Injunction." Defendant and Appellant Tesla, Inc. — you've probably heard of the company — appealed from denial of Tesla's motion to compel arbitration as to employees Chatman and Hall, plaintiffs. Marcus Vaughn et al v. Tesla, […]
Ambiguous And Unconscionable. The threshold question in Bernell Gregory Beco v. Fast Auto Loans, Inc., G059382 (4/3 12/14/22) (Moore, Bedsworth, Sanchez) was whether the court or the arbitrator should determine the issue of arbitrability. The arbitration agreement included a delegation provision stating that covered: "any dispute concerning the arbitrability of any such controversy or […]
Court Holds That Viking River Cruises Requires Enforcement Of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreement. Judge Harutunian explains that the trial court "understandably" denied the employer's motion to compel arbitration based on a rule in California that "predispute agreements to arbitrate PAGA claims are unenforceable." He concludes: "We hold that this rule cannot survive the U.S. Supreme […]
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 […]
Substantial Compliance With CCP § 1281.97 Just Won't Cut It. In July 2022, the California Court of Appeal ruled in Sunny Gallo v. Wood Ranch that Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. § 1281.97 is not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. The court reasoned that 1281.97, which requires the drafting party — usually the […]
Modified Opinion Addresses Viking River Cruises v. Moriana. In a partially published and modified opinion, the Court of Appeal holds that an employee's loss of Labor Code violation claims in arbitration does not preclude her from bringing a PAGA claim that the trial court had stayed. The basis for this ruling is that the […]
Catching Up From Last Week . . . Viking Cruises v. Moriana, PAGA, And Federal Preemption. We posted on June 19, 2022 about the Viking Cruises case, in which SCOTUS ruled individual PAGA claims can be arbitrated. In a concurrence, Justice Sotomayor wrote, "As a whole, the Court’s opinion makes clear that California […]
Business That Dilly-Dally About Paying Arbitration Fees Face Consequences. In a case of first impression, the California Court of Appeal asks whether California Code of Civil Procedure, §§ 1281.97, 1281.98, and 1281.99 are preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. Sunny Gallo v. Wood Ranch, USA, B311067 (2/1 7/25/22) […]
Federal Preemption Of California's Gentry Rule Means Class Action Waiver Can Be Enforced. David Evenskaas, a driver, filed a wage and hour lawsuit against his employer, California Transit, Inc., which operates paratransit services for persons with disabilities in West and Central Los Angeles. Evenskaas's employment agreement included a broad arbitration agreement with a class […]