The Arbitration Provision is Unconscionable, and Concepcion Does Not Change the Analysis “Unconscionability” may sound like an abstract legal principle, but it usually entails a very fact-specific analysis. Try out these facts: plaintiffs are carpet layers; they speak Spanish; contracts were presented to them only in English; they have difficulty reading simple written English; […]
Another Example of the Search for Wiggle Room Within the Concepcion Straightjacket California courts necessarily follow the ruling of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, __ U.S. __ , 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011), overruling the holding of Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal.4th 148 (2005) that in turn had held that class action […]
Employer Fired Employee Hours After He Signed Arbitration Agreement – How Much More Do You Need to Know? Plaintiff Ruzanno instituted arbitration proceedings against defendants Spectrum, Larson, Blake, and National University. The salient fact in this case is that Ruzanno signed the arbitration agreement hours before the employer fired him, purportedly without his […]
Problem Here: Modification Provision Was Not Sufficiently Restricted So As To Exempt All Employee Claims, Accrued Or Known, From A Contract Change Magician, Illusionist, Entertainer. 1913. Library of Congress. The next case takes us back to law school days: is a contract illusory? The case required the Court of Appeal to determine […]
Could Choice of Law and Procedural Unconscionability Provide A Lifeboat For Class Action Plaintiffs After AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion? Our latest arbitration case out of the Ninth Circuit contains an interesting twist on the analysis of collective-arbitration waivers in consumer contracts. Coneff, et al. v. AT&T Corp., et al., No. No. 09-35563 (9th Cir. […]
Delegation to the Arbitrator of the Power to Decide Whether the Arbitration Clause is Unconscionable Is “Horse of a Different Color” That Must Satisfy High Evidentiary Standard The employer, CantorCo2e, L.P., and an executive, appealed from an order denying their petition to compel arbitration of the claims under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) […]
Plenty of Hurdles to Enforcement in This Particular Case In Wisdom v. AccentCare, Inc., No. C065744 (3rd Dist. January 3, 2012) (certified for publication), the Court of Appeal held: “that a clause in an application for employment with AccentCare, Inc. (AccentCare), requiring only the applicant agree that, if hired, all disputes that cannot […]
Fifth District Finds That The Contract Containing the Arbitration Clause Is Not Automatically Unenforceable With limited exceptions, an unlicensed contractor will find it impossible to collect payment, and may also have to disgorge payments already made. Can an award in favor of the client of an unlicensed contractor be set aside on the […]