Case Contains Rich Discussion Of Arbitration, PAGA, Federal Preemption, And Divergence Of State And Federal Law. Plaintiffs sued their former employer, alleging wage and hour violations and seeking civil penalties under California's Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Employer successfully petitioned to arbitrate, with one exception: the trial court held that under Iskanian v. […]
"We have become an arbitration nation," says the Court. The 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's order vacating an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act, concluding that the arbitrator acted beyond his powers, rendering an award that was "irrational", failing to "draw the essence of the award" from subcontracts. Aspic Engineering and Construction […]
This Is One Of Those Rare Cases In Which A Delegation Clause Is Not Enforced. Generally, a court will decide arbitrability of a dispute unless that issue is clearly and unmistakably delegated to an arbitrator, as was the case here. But there are exceptions, and New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira (S. Ct. 1/15/19) […]
First SCOTUS Opinion Authored By Justice Kavanaugh Is Unanimous. "Under the Federal Arbitration Act, parties to a contract may agree that an arbitrator rather than a court will resolve disputes arising out of the contract." The question presented in Henry Schein, Inc., et al. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc., No. 17-1272 (S. […]
Opinion Clarifies How To Perform Calculation. In Stevens v. Jiffy Lube, No. 17-15965 (9th Cir. 12/27/18) (McKeown, Fletcher, Bybee), the panel affirms the district court's denial of a petition to vacate an arbitration award, on the grounds that the petition was one day late. In doing so, it clarifies how to calculate the […]
Arbitration Cases Fly Under The Radar. In recent years, I have concentrated more on published arbitration cases than on unpublished cases — first, because the unpublished cases are not citable in California state courts, and second, because there are simply so many of them. However, today, I have gathered five unpublished cases appearing […]
Federal Arbitration Act Cases Pending Before SCOTUS Present Issues of Interpretation Of FAA, And Who Decides Gateway Issues. Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales Inc., scheduled to be argued in November, presents as an issue whether judge or arbitrator decides the gateway issue of arbitrability. The general rule is that the […]
Does Exemption In Section 1 Of The FAA For Workers Engaged In Interstate Commerce Apply To Independent Contractors? And Who Decides? We posted earlier about this case on February 26, 2018. The issues presented are: (1) Whether a dispute over applicability of the Federal Arbitration Act's Section 1 exemption is an arbitrability issue […]
Court Of Appeal Also Holds That The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Does Not Preempt California's Anti-SLAPP Statute. This dispute began in 2012 when Ruiz filed a putative class action against Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (MBAG) for employment- related claims. By the time we get to the instant appeal, Moss Bros. Toy, Inc. […]
Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, and Lamps Plus v. Varela. On August 20, 2018, Amy Howe reported in SCOTUSblog that the Supreme Court will hear oral argument (Nov. 7) on two cases involving interpretation of the FAA. She reports: "Henry Schein, Inc. . . . asks the justices to decide whether the act allows […]