Appeals, Arbitration, Collective Actions

Ninth Circuit Hands Employers Split Decision on Key Procedural Aspects of FLSA Collective Actions

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 8/4/2025

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hit a trifecta of important legal procedures affecting litigation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions. Harrington v. Cracker Barrel Old...more

Understanding Arbitration and Equitable Estoppel: Lessons From Gonzalez v. Nowhere Beverly Hills LLC

ArentFox Schiff on 12/23/2024

Employment arbitration agreements are an important tool for employers who wish to resolve workplace disputes in a more streamline fashion and, more importantly, avoid class and collective actions. However, enforcing...more

Panel Upends the Rules of FLSA Collective Actions in the Fifth Circuit

Perkins Coie on 1/14/2021

In an unexpected shift, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services, LLC, ordered courts to abandon the commonly followed “two-step” certification process for collective actions under...more

5th Circuit: Arbitration Available for Employee’s Collective Action Claims

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace on 5/12/2020

On April 16, 2020, the Fifth Circuit held that an employee is entitled to arbitrate his federal labor law claims as a collective action on behalf of his coworkers against their employer, Sun Coast Resources, Inc. (“Sun...more

Appeals Court Says No FLSA Notice for Employees Who Agree to Arbitrate

Foley & Lardner LLP on 2/25/2020

On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit announced a new standard by which a district court should evaluate whether notice of an FLSA collective action should be sent to employees who may be...more

Recent Appellate Court Decision Explains How Arbitration Agreements May Mitigate The Impact Of Class Actions On Employers

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on 2/19/2020

Valid arbitration agreements may prevent class notices from being sent to employees that would otherwise be putative class members in collective action lawsuits according to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Bigger v....more

New Statutory Framework Mandated for Employers Seeking to Limit Notice to Putative Class Members in an Enforceable Arbitration...

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP on 2/6/2020

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently articulated a new statutory framework for determining whether notice to a putative plaintiff should be issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). At...more

Invitations (To Join FLSA Collective Actions) Have Consequences: Seventh Circuit Rules That FLSA Opt-In Notice Should Not Be Sent...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/31/2020

Seyfarth Synopsis: An appellate court has ruled that a district court should not authorize notice of an FLSA suit to employees who are ineligible to join the suit because they agreed to resolve disputes exclusively through...more

Fifth Circuit Rules No Notice of Collective Actions for Employees With Arbitration Agreements

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 3/12/2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court recently issued an opinion with major implications in In re: JPMorgan Chase & Company that impacts collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). On...more

Seventh Circuit Joins Sister Circuits in Holding That Courts, not Arbitrators, Should Decide the Availability of Class Arbitration

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 10/29/2018

In a matter of first impression before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals involving an issue left open by the Supreme Court of the United States, a Seventh Circuit panel issued an opinion on a key threshold question of...more

Eleventh Circuit Remands Arbitration Case to NLRB in Light of Supreme Court Decision

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 7/12/2018

In May in its Epic Systems decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of employers to compel individual mandatory arbitration of employment disputes as an alternative to class or collective action litigation....more

New York Appeals Court Holds Class Action Waivers Violate the NLRA While Employers Await Definitive Ruling From Supreme Court

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints on 7/26/2017

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in October on whether class and collective action waivers are enforceable. While employers await the Supreme Court’s decision, other courts continue to weigh in on the matter....more

CBAs Must Specifically State Intent to Arbitrate Statutory Rights

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 2/13/2017

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has held that unless a collective bargaining agreement includes an explicitly stated, clear and unmistakable, intent to waive the right to a judicial forum for statutory causes of...more

Fifth Circuit Instructs that, When Raised, Arbitrability is a Gateway Issue that Must Be Considered Prior to Conditional...

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace on 10/11/2016

On October 4, 2016, the Fifth Circuit in Reyna v. International Bank of Commerce instructed district courts that when the issue of arbitrability is raised in a prompt motion to compel, it should be decided at the outset of...more

Ninth Circuit Addresses Employee Arbitration Agreements

Perkins Coie on 9/7/2016

In Morris v. Ernst & Young, LLP, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reviewed an arbitration agreement that required employees “as a condition of employment” “to sign agreements not to join with other...more

Adding to Circuit Split, Divided Ninth Circuit Finds Concerted Action Waiver in Ernst & Young’s Employment Agreement Unenforceable...

Carlton Fields on 9/6/2016

Ernst & Young’s (“E&Y”) employment agreements contained “separate proceedings” and arbitration provisions, which together required that disputes be resolved individually through arbitration, rather than collectively through...more

Ninth Circuit, California Appellate Court Take Aim at Arbitration Agreements

FordHarrison on 8/26/2016

The Ninth Circuit and the California Court of Appeal have each issued decisions that may fundamentally affect how employers deal with arbitration agreements in the future. In Morris v. Ernst & Young, the Ninth Circuit held...more

Ninth Circuit Sides with NLRB in Divide over Employee Arbitration Waiver Agreements

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/26/2016

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit announced this week that it agrees with the National Labor Relations Board that individual arbitration waiver agreements, which prevent employees from filing or participating in...more

West Coast—Time to Check Your Employment Agreements: Ninth Circuit Negates No-Class Action Clause in Arbitration Agreements

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/25/2016

This week, the Ninth Circuit held that Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) arbitration agreement that prohibited its employees from filing class actions violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). E&Y required as a condition of...more

Ninth Circuit Finds Arbitration Agreement That Required Employees to Bring Claims in “Separate Proceedings” Illegal Under the NLRA

Littler on 8/24/2016

On August 22, 2016, in Morris et al. v. Ernst & Young, LLP, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit followed the lead of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the U.S Court of Appeals for the...more

Sixth Circuit Voids FLSA Collective Action Waiver Signed as Part of Separation and Release Agreement in Killion v. KeHE...

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 8/1/2014

On July 30, 2014, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a collective action waiver signed as part of a separation and release agreement. The ruling is significant because it is the first time a federal appellate...more

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