“Heads I win, tails you lose.” That’s how the Sixth Circuit described one hospital’s strategy after it tried to switch to arbitration only after losing some key early motions in court. The judges didn’t flip for it. TL;DR: A Michigan hospital tried to move a religious-discrimination case to arbitration only…
In 2022, Congress passed a law that makes it harder for employers to require arbitration in certain workplace cases. Some employees are now trying to use that law to keep sex discrimination lawsuits in court. A recent case in Connecticut shows the limits of that strategy: not every sex discrimination…
A recent decision from the Third Circuit shows how courts are looking closely—not just at what arbitration agreements say, but also at how they’re rolled out. And even if a dispute doesn’t qualify for the new federal carveout for sexual harassment claims, employers still need to be ready to prove…
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Last night, I read a Pennsylvania federal court decision about an employer who tried to use an arbitration agreement with its employee to stop an investigation by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), the state’s version of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Consistent with a…
This week, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12) reintroduced the Restoring Justice for Workers Act, which Ms. Murray describes as legislation to end forced arbitration clauses and protect workers’ ability to pursue work-related claims in court. If successful, the…
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it had advanced the Protecting Older Americans Act, which would invalidate forced arbitration clauses requiring employees to arbitrate age discrimination claims, whether for disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, or retaliation. 15 Senators voted in favor and 6 against. The legislation, introduced in…
A recent federal appellate court decision is an important reminder to confirm early—not later—whether the employee suing your business signed an arbitration agreement. The plaintiff had signed an agreement with an arbitration provision that covered his subsequent claims for disability discrimination, which he filed in federal court. But the employer…
On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced the introduction of the bipartisan Protecting Older Americans Act. The legislation would invalidate forced arbitration clauses that require employees to arbitrate claims…
A 30-plus-year employee found out the hard way that missing a deadline — by just 24 hours — to arbitrate her claim against her former employer under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act is enough to lose it forever when her brief delay violates the plain terms of an arbitration…
Last year, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 into law. The name of the new law speaks for itself. Victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault at work that previously signed arbitration agreements can arbitrate their claims but don’t have…