A recent decision from California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal has deepened the divide among state courts on a critical issue under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA): whether a plaintiff may pursue representative...more
8/5/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Arbitration ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Split of Authority ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana ,
Wage and Hour
Employers have long been scrutinized for perceived unequal bargaining power when it comes to enforcement of company-drafted arbitration agreements. Indeed, both the California legislature and the courts have aimed to protect...more
7/15/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
False Statements ,
Human Resources Professionals
Cross Country Healthcare, Inc., a healthcare staffing company, believed that it had a “squeaky clean” Arbitration Agreement with its employees. ...more
7/9/2025
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unconscionable Contracts
In the recent decision in Sanders v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, the California Court of Appeal reinforced the consequences for employers who fail to timely pay arbitration fees in employment disputes....more
6/10/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Fees ,
Class Action ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Wage and Hour
Until the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana in 2022, California law had established that Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claims could not be subject to binding arbitration....more
Less than a year ago, the California Supreme Court in Ramirez v. Charter Communications, Inc. opined, in the context of employment arbitration agreements, that there is no bright line rule that requires a court to refuse...more
The case of Parra Rodriguez v. Packers Sanitation Services LTD., LLC typifies the reason employers and employment counsel must stay on top of arbitration case developments....more
4/1/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (the “Act”), a federal law, is unique for its role in overriding the policy in favor of the enforcement of arbitration agreements. The Act was...more
Readers of this blog are, by now, aware of California’s judicial and legislative hostility toward arbitration. Over the last few months, however, employers have seen a surprising number of appellate victories in their...more
There is no greater threat to an employment arbitration than Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.98, which mandates that the party who drafted the arbitration agreement pay the fees and costs of the arbitration within 30...more
Prior to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises Inc. v. Moriana, California courts did not consider the components of a Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claim. ...more
2/20/2025
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Representatives ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
Tell me if you have heard this one before: ten companies are sued by a former employee as “joint employers”, even though the employee technically worked for, and signed a binding arbitration agreement with, only one of them....more
2/12/2025
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Estoppel ,
Joint Employers ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Signatories ,
Split of Authority
California law has long held that an employer’s good faith dispute over wages owed, if any, to its employees will preclude the imposition of “waiting time” penalties otherwise due following the termination of their...more
In 2003, the California Supreme Court adopted a stringent test to determine whether an employer had waived its right to compel arbitration of an employee’s claims. The most critical, and often determinative, factor was...more
In August 2000, the California Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling that changed the face of employment arbitration agreements going forward. That case, known as Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services,...more
Since its enactment, California courts have universally established the California Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.97 et seq., which governs the timely payment of fees in arbitration, allows no room for error....more
7/31/2024
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Fees ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cal Code of Civil Procedure ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Preemption ,
Safe Harbors ,
State Arbitration Acts ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
Statutory Interpretation
Despite its best efforts, the California Legislature has been unable to substantially curtail the popularity of employment arbitrations in California. The hostility to employment arbitration remains evident, however, among...more
Until recently, California courts were split on whether Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claims could be dismissed for a lack of “manageability” – referring to the practicality of effectively conducting a trial on the...more
Over the past few years, this blog has followed the California Legislature’s concerted efforts to vitiate employment arbitrations in the state. Senate Bill 365 is the next in line....more
Following the United States Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Moriana v. Viking River Cruises, California courts were tasked with the open question of whether an “aggrieved” employee whose individual Private Attorneys...more
8/2/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Employment Litigation ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Uber ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
In law school, aspiring attorneys are taught fundamental concepts related to contracts, including “agency”, “third party beneficiary”, and “equitable estoppel”, terms which relate to determining who should be subject to the...more
Until recently, employers had the luxury of interpreting the outside salesperson exemption to minimum wage, overtime and meal and rest period requirements at face value. This is because the definition of an “outside...more
4/4/2023
/ Control Test ,
Costco ,
DLSE ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exemptions ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salespersons ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Since its enactment in 2020, employers have been forced to be mindful of the burdensome imposition of Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.97 et seq., which requires an employer to pay the full amount of arbitration fees...more
Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) actions are the proverbial boogeyman to California employers. On June 15, 2022, the United States Supreme Court reined in some of this statute’s bite by holding that “aggrieved...more
Since the turn of the century, the judicial and legislative branches in California have added barrier after barrier to employers who have consciously sought arbitration; an oft-stated “preferred” method of resolution. The...more