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 Div. 3 Nov. 26, 2013) (unpublished) is one more wage and hour case in which the employee is ordered to arbitrate individual claims and the Court upholds dismissal of class claims without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 […]
SCOTUS Ruling In Concepcion Causes California Supreme Court To Change Its Position On Waiver of Berman Hearing So what is a Berman hearing? It is a dispute resolution forum established by the Legislature to assist employees in recovering wages owed. Labor Code section 98. The procedure is named after legislator Howard Berman, who instituted […]
Failure To Attach AAA Rules And Employer’s Unilateral Ability to Modify the Arbitration Agreement Were the Issues Here Plaintiff Peng sued her employer for employment discrimination and related claims. After the trial court denied defendant’s motion to compel arbitration, the employer appealed. On appeal, the issues were whether the employer’s failure to attach […]
But Trial Court Was Correct That Class Arbitration Cannot Be “Inferred” From Silence On The Issue The trial court judge denied Tenet Health Care Corporation’s motion to compel arbitration of a wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by a hospital nurse. Tenet appealed and obtained a reversal. McElroy v. Tenet Health Care Corporation, G047300 (4th Dist. […]
In Dictum, Court Suggests Armendariz Is No Longer Good Law Mercado v. Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, Inc., Case No. F064478 (5th Dist. July 26, 2013) (Hill, P.J., author 3:0) (unpublished) offers a routine unconscionability analsysis of an employee agreement to arbitrate. Finding “some degree” of procedural unconscionability, based on an adhesive contract and […]
Washington D.C. Bicycle Rental Shop. 1942. Marjory Collins, photographer. Library of Congress. Plaintiff Corbin sued her employer Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc. and its president for harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. The trial judge, who commented about the defendant’s failure to provide the JAMS rules, found the agreement unconscionable, and refused to compel arbitration. […]
Employer’s Right to Change Dispute Resolution Process Is Held In Check By Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Having just blogged on June 5, 2013, about an opinion authored by Justice Mallano, reversing an order granting a motion to compel arbitration, I now blog about an opinion authored by Justice Mallano, reversing […]
Split In Appellate Opinion I have a separate sidebar category on “automobiles” because the auto industry spawns many decisions about the enforceability of arbitration clauses in sales contracts. As I have previously posted on August 26, 2012, and January 7, 2013, Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Co. LLC, 201 Cal.App.4th 74 (2012) is pending before […]
Justice Aronson Dissents, Believing Majority Misapplied Legal "Sliding Scale" Test To Contract of Adhesion Plaintiff Nibler sued Monex, a precious metals trading company in which he invested, and lost, his inheritance. The trial court denied Monex's motion to compel arbitration, finding the arbitration provisions unconscionable. In fact Monex had been involved in another case, […]
Court Uses Full Bag Of Tools To Save Arbitration Provision Life boat drill. Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915. Library of Congress. The Courts of Appeal have many tools for interpreting arbitration provisions, including sliding scales for weighing unconscionability, incorporation by reference, application of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, […]