Fourth District, Division 1 Agrees With Conclusions Of Lawson and Zakaryan Courts. The employer in Mejia v. Merchants Building Maintenance, LLC, D074620 (4/1 8/13/19) (Aaron, Benke, Huffman), tried to do what other employers have attempted: compel arbitration of the "victim-specific" relief portion of a PAGA claim. Appellate courts are divided on this question, and […]
Quinn Emanuel And Spin-off LawFirm Selendy and Gay. Jack Newsham authored an April 24, 2019 article, appearing in New York Law Journal, and entitled, "Judge Dismisses Suit Against Quinn Emanuel by Partners of Spinoff, Sends to Arbitration." Newsham begins by quoting the judge, who wrote, "It is for the arbitrator in the first […]
Justice Segal Dissents. An employee can impliedly accept an arbitration agreement by continuing to work for his or her employer. But what happens when the employee explicitly rejects the arbitration agreement yet continues to work, after the employer has said that continuing to work will bind the employee to arbitration? The trial court […]
Choice-Of-Law Provision Is Interpreted To Exclude Special Rules Limiting The Authority Of Arbitrators Where The Federal Arbitration Act Governed The Agreement. California Labor Code section 229 provides that wage disputes "may be maintained without regard to the existence of any private agreement to arbitrate." In Bravo v. RADC Enterprises, Inc., B289506 (2/8 3/29/19) (Wiley, Grimes, […]
Language Of Arbitration Agreement Was Sufficient To Require Arbitration, But . . . . In Salgado v. Carrows Restaurants, Inc., B285756 (2/6 2/26/19) (Gilbert, Yegan, Tangeman), the trial court denied employer's motion to compel arbitration, on the grounds that "Defendants have failed to demonstrate that the arbitration agreement applies to a suit that […]
Arbitrator's Discretion To Limit Discovery Did Not Amount To Substantive Unconscionability. Finding "some procedural unconscionability", but not substantive unconscionability, the Court of Appeal reversed Judge Michael L. Stern's order denying defendants' motion to compel arbitration. Spaulding v. PJCA-2, LP et al., B285996 (2/7 2/11/19) (Segal, Zelon, Feuer) (unpublished). The Court held that the arbitration agreement, […]
This Case Involves The Ability Of Co-Employers To Compel Arbitration With Workers Where Workers Have An Arbitration Agreement With The Co-Employer They Do Not Sue, And Do Not Have An Arbitration Agreement With The Co-Employer They Do Sue. We blogged about Vasquez v. San Miguel Produce, Inc. on January 4, 2019, at which […]
Staffing Agency Signed Arbitration Agreement, Packing Employer Did Not Sign. Packing fresh prunes at night on Produce Row during busy season, wages two cents per box. Washington, Yakima. Dorothea Lange, photographer. August 1939. Library of Congress. Plaintiffs/Respondents Vasquez and Zacarias […]
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 […]
Under Armendariz Framework, Court Finds Parties' Arbitration Agreement Is Unconscionable. Constance Ramos, "an experienced litigator and patent practitioner with a doctorate in biophysics" petitioned the Court of Appeal to vacate superior court Judge John Stewart's order granting the motion of her erstwhile employer, Winston & Strawn, to compel arbitration of her employment/FEHA dispute. […]