Patent Infringement: Successful Litigation Stays the "Course"
A California appellate court recently denied a motion to compel arbitration, finding the agreement unconscionable in part because it (1) applied to all claims rather than just those arising from employment, (2) was unlimited...more
In Payne v. Savannah College of Art and Design Inc., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order denying a motion to compel arbitration of plaintiff Isaac Payne’s discrimination-based claims. The...more
The California Supreme Court recently rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of standing under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). In Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 532 P.3d 682 (Cal. 2023), the Court...more
In Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a circuit split over whether district courts must stay proceedings while an interlocutory appeal of a denial of a motion to compel arbitration is...more
In Women’s Care Specialists, P.C. v. Dr. Margot G. Potter and Dr. Karla Kennedy v. Dr. Margot G. Potter, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed opinions of the trial court that had denied motions to compel arbitration and held...more
On March 7, 2023, in Dakota Powell vs. Prime Comms Retail LLC, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that a former employee must arbitrate her claims of race discrimination, rather than pursue them in court due to her...more
Employers that face lawsuits from employees often seek to move such claims from the courthouse to arbitration. But what happens if the trial court refuses to compel arbitration and the employer appeals the decision? Should...more
Evenskaas v. California Transit Inc. reversed a Los Angeles Superior Court judge’s denial of an employer’s motion to compel arbitration of a former employee’s wage and hour class action. The trial court had concluded that the...more
On July 8, 2022, in Gist v. ZoAn Management, Inc., the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the trial court and court of appeals granting the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration. The court concluded that...more
The United States Supreme Court recently resolved a circuit split regarding when a party has waived its contractual right to arbitrate by participating in litigation prior to seeking to arbitrate a dispute. In Morgan v....more
Resolving an issue over when a party has waived their right to arbitrate, the United States Supreme Court recently granted plaintiff’s a major victory, holding that litigants are no longer required to show prejudice when...more
If you have an arbitration agreement, do you have to compel arbitration when the lawsuit is filed or can you wait awhile? This week, the Supreme Court concluded that a party litigating in federal court cannot later compel...more
In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., decided May 23, a unanimous Supreme Court addressed the standard for determining whether a party has waived its right to arbitrate a controversy by first engaging in litigation. Overruling...more
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court unanimously held in Morgan v. Sundance that litigants are no longer required to show prejudice when opposing a party’s delayed attempt to compel arbitration. Previously, an Eighth Circuit...more
Over the past decade, several Supreme Court decisions have made the enforcement of arbitration agreements much more likely, particularly in the employment context. On May 23, 2022, however, the Supreme Court issued a rare...more
On May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved in Morgan v. Sundance whether a litigant seeking to establish waiver had to show prejudice resulting from an opposing party’s failure to timely enforce an arbitration provision under...more
A former driver for UberEats alleged that Uber misclassified drivers as independent contractors as part of a PAGA action. Uber sought an order to compel arbitration of the question of whether the plaintiff was an independent...more
An employer’s arbitration agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable, a California appellate panel determined, affirming a trial court’s denial of an employer’s motion to compel arbitration....more
Judge Shannon Frison, sitting in the Middlesex County Superior Court in Massachusetts, recently issued a ruling that highlights for employers the importance of providing complete and timely responses to requests for employee...more
In Garcia v. Haralambos Beverage Co., the California Court of Appeal embraced the adage “time kills all deals” to conclude that an employer waived its right to arbitrate the wage-hour claims at issue in the case by, among...more
On July 8, 2020, the California Court of Appeals held that when an employee fails to initial a specific part of an arbitration agreement, but still signs it, the agreement is still enforceable....more
Although the Supreme Court of the United States has not yet taken up the issue, California courts routinely hold an employee cannot be compelled to submit to arbitration an action seeking penalties under the Private Attorneys...more
It’s no secret that many employers have employees sign arbitration agreements with class and collective action waivers in the hopes of avoiding the massive wage-hour lawsuits that have become so prevalent in the past two...more
On November 26, 2019, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard B. Ulmer ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) might not apply to Uber drivers who are engaged in interstate commerce while driving passengers to or...more
The plaintiff, an agricultural laborer, brought suit against his employer who, in turn, moved to compel arbitration based on the arbitration agreement in the parties’ employment contract. The plaintiff opposed, successfully...more