To Sever Unconscionable Provisions Or Not To Sever . . . That Is The Question. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision denying USF Reddaway, Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration, finding the agreement procedurally and substantively unconscionable under California law. The court held the arbitration agreement was moderately procedurally unconscionable due to its […]
Multiple Unconscionable Provisions Does Not Necessarily Make An Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable. In Ramirez v. Charter Communications, Inc., No. S273802 (S.Ct. 7/15/24) (Corrigan, J.), Angelica Ramirez, a former employee of Charter Communications, sued the company for employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Charter sought to compel arbitration based on an agreement Ramirez signed during her onboarding. […]
De Leon v. Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC, G059801 (4/3 ord. to publish 12/8/21) (Marks, Fybel, Goethals). This case applies established principles to affirm the trial court's order denying employer's motion to compel arbitration. The trial court found the arbitration agreement procedurally and substantively unconscionable. Procedurally unconscionable, because it was a take-it-or […]
Ineffective Delegation Clauses, Fraud In The Execution, And Unconsciconability Result In Reversals. In Najarro v. Sup. Ct. of the County of San Bernardino; Horizon Personnel Services Inc., et al, E076328 (4/2 10/22/21) (Raphael, Codrington, Slough), the court does plenty of slicing and dicing, because there are two arbitration agreements, two sets of employees, […]
Motion To Compel Arbitration Should Have Been Granted, And One Substantively Unconscionable Provision Was Severable. In Erendira Cisneros Alvarez v. Altamed Health Services Corp., B305155 (2/8 2/4/21) (Stratton, Bigelow, Grimes), the Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's order denying a motion to compel arbitration. The arbitration provision, which is part of an employer-employee […]
Case Offers Primer On McGill v. Citibank, N.A. Defendant and appellant DACM, Inc. (Del Amo) sold a motorcycle to Joseph Mejia, who paid some cash and financed the remainder of the purchase with a credit card. And, the credit card included an arbitration provision covering Del Amo. So when Mejia sued Del Amo for […]
Employer Had No Duty To Call Arbitration Agreement To Attention Of Employee. When Michael Conyer became employed by Hula Media, the employer's handbook did not have an arbitration clause. Several months later, Conyer signed the "receipt and acknowledgment" page, which was the final page of a revised employee handbook that did include an arbitration […]
College That Wanted To Participate In Intercollegiate Athletics Had No Choice Other Than To Contract With Athletic Association. Bakersfield College et al. v. California Community College Athletic Association et al., C085099 (3d Dist. 10/31/19) (Robie, Duarte, Renner), was described both by the trial court and the appellate court as a "close case". However, […]
McGill v. Citibank Held Agreement To Waive Right To Seek Public Injunctive Relief Is Unenforceable. In McGill v. Citibank, N.A. (2017), the California Supreme Court held that a contract purporting to waive a party's right to seek public injunctive relief in any forum is unenforceable under California law. The key issue in Blair […]
Opinion Explains How Contract And Arbitration Agreement Are Treated As Separate Agreements. Jackpot Harvesting, Inc. v. Applied Underwriters, H044953 (6th Dist. 3/28/19) (Danner, Greenwood, Grover), provides a detailed discussion of whether the court or the arbitrator has authority to enforce an arbitration agreement, and how the concept of "severability" helps the analysis. […]