Majority Opinion Distinguishes Between Who Decides Arbitrability Of Claims And Who Decides Claims-Processing Requirements On February 26, 2014, I posted that it was time to watch for a decision in BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina,__ S.Ct. __ , 2014 WL 838424. The case was decided on March 5, 2014. Following an […]
Unilateral Right To Alter Or Terminate Agreement Does Not Necessarily Make It “Illusory” Employee Casas sued his employer CarMax, alleging wrongful termination and related causes, prompting CarMax to move to compel arbitration. However, the trial court denied CarMax’s motion to compel, buying its argument that the arbitration agreement was “illusory” because the Dispute […]
Court Summarizes Fractured Opinion About Gentry Rivera v. Hilton Worldwide, Inc., Case No. G047644 (4th Dist. Div. 3 Nov. 26, 2013) (unpublished) is one more wage and hour case in which the employee is ordered to arbitrate individual claims and the Court upholds dismissal of class claims without prejudice. The Court finds that […]
Spouses Are Not Automatically The Agents Of One Another When It Comes To Making Health Care Decisions Mrs. Goldman signed an arbitration provision on behalf of her husband who entered a nursing home. After Mr. Goldman died, Mrs. Goldman sued on behalf of her husband for elder abuse and related wrongs, and in […]
California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1281.6 to the Rescue The failure of an arbitration agreement to provide a method for appointing an arbitrator need not be fatal. Our next case arose from Plaintiffs’ efforts to recover allegedly unpaid progress payments under a construction contract for remodeling Defendants’ home. Plaintiffs sued Defendants for […]
Hobson’s Choice? – Defendant Can Choose To Pay Arbitration Fees If Trial Court Determines Plaintiffs Are Unable To Pay “The only issue before us is whether plaintiffs, each of whom were subsequently granted permission to proceed in forma pauperis in the trial court, could likewise be excused from the obligation to pay fees associated […]
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 […]
The Twist Here: A Defunct Member of FINRA Cannot Compel Arbitration – But Its Agent or Third Party Beneficiary Could Do So Here (Maybe) The Ronay Family Limited Partnership (Ronay) sued its financial advisor Robert R. Tweed, his investment firm TFI, and others, claiming Ronay had lost $4M as a result of bum investment […]
Invalid Power of Attorney Did Not Constitute Sufficient Evidence of Ostensible Authority Grandma’s birthday. 1896. Library of Congress. Mother, in her 90s, suffering from dementia and osteoporosis, allegedly slipped and fell at a residential care facility for the elderly, after being left unattended in the dark on a wet pavement. Found lying in […]
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 […]