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Arbitration Agreements Contract Terms Employment Contract

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Surprise! Misleading Statements and Time Pressure May Render an Employer’s Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable

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

Dickinson Wright

Start the Clock—The Case for Including Contractual Limitations Periods in Employment Agreements.

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Contractual limitations periods provide parties on both sides of an agreement certainty regarding the filing of a potential action. But many employers do not know that they may include such contractual limitations periods in...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Contemporaneous Onboarding Documents May Invalidate An Employer’s “Squeaky Clean” Arbitration Agreement

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc., a healthcare staffing company, believed that it had a “squeaky clean” Arbitration Agreement with its employees. ...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Unconscionable Employment Terms In Onboarding Documents Can Void Arbitration Agreements

CDF Labor Law LLP on

On June 13, 2025, a California Court of Appeal struck down an arbitration agreement because of unconscionable terms entered by the parties in a separate employment agreement, governing different dispute resolution fora and...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

The Importance of Having an Up-To-Date Employment Arbitration Agreement

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

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.

Beyond Silence: South Carolina Supreme Court Ruling Clarifies Acceptance in Employment Arbitration Agreements

In Lampo v. Amedisys Holding, LLC and Leisa Victoria Neasbitt, the South Carolina Supreme Court establishes important legal precedent regarding contract formation for arbitration agreements between employers and employees....more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Plaintiffs, Not Defendants, Must Initiate Arbitration

Arzate v. Ace American Insurance Company, — Cal. Rptr. 3d — (2025) began as a familiar case: plaintiffs signed arbitration agreements (“Agreement”) with their employer that contained a class action waiver. But when a dispute...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Second Circuit Renders Important Decision on Vested Retiree Benefits

In a significant ruling on February 5, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed the enforceability of an arbitration provision in an expired collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the case of Xerox...more

Littler

The Sixth Circuit Rules on Arbitration Clause Enforcement

Littler on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that an arbitration provision in a plaintiff’s employment contract is binding and enforceable, even if the employer did not explain the provision or recommend the...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Does an Arbitration Agreement Require the Employer’s Signature?  Read the Fine Print

The California Court of Appeal recently reminded employers in an unpublished (but nonetheless chastening) opinion of the importance of carefully drafting arbitration agreements. In Pich v. LaserAway, LLC et al, the court...more

K&L Gates LLP

California Court of Appeal Ends Headless PAGA Actions in Leeper v. Shipt

K&L Gates LLP on

The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, in Leeper v. Shipt, Inc., No. B339670, 2024 WL 5251619 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 30, 2024) (Leeper) issued a significant decision benefiting employers seeking to enforce...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Good News for Employers: California Enforces Arbitration Agreement In Favor of Non-Signatory Related Entities

CDF Labor Law LLP on

Frequently, employment arbitration agreements are written with the intent to apply to future disputes between an employee, the employer and the employer’s parent and sister companies....more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Arbitration Agreement Enforceable By Non-Signatory Alleged Joint-Employers

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Employees who sign an arbitration agreement with one company cannot avoid arbitration with related defendant-companies by arguing they were not parties to the agreement. The California Court of Appeal held that claims against...more

Lewitt Hackman

Beyond the Contract: Non-Signatories to an Arbitration Agreement Can Compel Arbitration

Lewitt Hackman on

Departing from the ruling in Soltero v. Precise Distribution earlier this year, the California Court of Appeal in the Second District in Gonzalez v. Nowhere Beverly Hills LLC, created a split of authority regarding an alleged...more

Kilpatrick

California Supreme Court outlines severance standards for unconscionable contract provisions in arbitration case

Kilpatrick on

Issues surrounding unconscionability and severance are commonplace in motions to compel arbitration, especially in California. Under California Civil Code section 1670.5, a court has three options when presented with an...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Severing Unconscionable Terms in Employment Arbitration Agreements

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

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Overbroad Employment Arbitration Agreements Will Not Be Enforced in California

Arbitration agreements, at their core, are contracts. As with any contract, there must be “mutuality” or, more colloquially, a “meeting of the minds” on what the contract is intended to encompass. For this reason, employment...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

CA Supreme Court: No Three-Strikes Rule For Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements

CDF Labor Law LLP on

In a recent decision, the California Supreme Court held that courts cannot refuse to enforce arbitration agreements simply by finding that three or more provisions are unconscionable. Rather, courts must use a three-prong...more

Carlton Fields

New Jersey Supreme Court Reinstates Arbitrator’s Decision Demoting School Official

Carlton Fields on

Under New Jersey’s Tenure Employees Hearing Law, when a school district files tenure charges against an employee, the state commissioner of education must refer the case to arbitration if he or she determines that the charges...more

Littler

Savings Clause Results in Oregon Supreme Court Affirming Enforceability of Arbitration Provision

Littler on

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

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Rejects Arbitration for Proposed Fiduciary Breach Class Action

The Sixth Circuit, in a matter of first impression for that Circuit, held an arbitration clause contained in an individual employment agreement did not apply to ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a defined...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Fourth Circuit’s Reinstatement of $1.2 Million Award Highlights Risk of Arbitration Agreements

On February 24, 2022, the Fourth Circuit restored a $1,186,975.00 arbitration award for a North Carolina securities wholesaler (“Warfield”) who alleged that his former employer ICON Advisers Inc. (“ICON”) unlawfully fired him...more

K&L Gates LLP

U.S. Supreme Court to Address Prejudice Requirement for Waiver of Arbitration Agreements

K&L Gates LLP on

Agreements to submit disputes to arbitration are commonplace, with parties attempting to avoid the time, cost, and publicity involved in litigating disputes in court. To facilitate these aims, the Federal Arbitration Act (the...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

EMPLOYER ALERT – Senate Clears Way for Major Shift in Banning Arbitration Agreements and Class Waivers for Workplace Sexual...

On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Ending Force Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “Act”, available here: H.R. 4445).  President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law shortly.  ...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

What Forced Arbitration Ruling Means For Calif. Employers

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On Wednesday, in a surprising turn, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed in part a 2020 preliminary injunction issued by a district court and resurrected California Labor Code Section 432.6, the Golden...more

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