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…
Articles Posted in Arbitration
Your employees’ arbitration agreements may look a lot different soon (all crumpled up in a trash can)
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 day late and an age discrimination claim short
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…
New federal legislation will end mandatory arbitration of race discrimination claims
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…
Did an employee just discover an “FMLA loophole” to arbitration agreements?!?
Grab your pearls for clutching, and let’s get into this recent federal court decision to find out. Last week, I talked about how having a signed arbitration agreement is generally a prerequisite to requiring an employee to arbitrate employment claims against the company. If you have a signed arbitration agreement,…
PRO-TIP: If you want to arbitrate employment claims, have an arbitration agreement.
A client embroiled in an employment dispute with a former employee once asked me if we could force the employee into arbitration. So, I asked the client for a copy of the arbitration agreement that the individual had signed. After an uncomfortably long pause, I went back to drafting the…
Supreme Court makes it harder for employers who litigate arbitrable claims to change their minds
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that federal courts may not adopt an arbitration-specific waiver rule demanding a showing of prejudice. Huh? Before translating legalese into plain English, I want to apologize to those expecting the follow-up to yesterday’s post about what Major League Baseball should do…
First, they banned forced #MeToo arbitration. Is arbitration of ALL employment claims doomed too?
On March 3, 2022, 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…
Don’t ruin your arbitration agreements by doing this…
Some of you require your employees to sign agreements requiring them to arbitrate employment claims — other than claims of sexual harassment or abuse, of course. But what happens if your employees later sign another agreement — a severance agreement, for example — that doesn’t contain an arbitration provision? One…
Biden signs #MeToo arbitration bill, Philly drops masks, and EEOC updates its COVID-19 guidance
What a Friday trifecta! The only thing better that could come in threes would be a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream — with chocolate instead of strawberry and vanilla. Beards up! Masks down. Speaking of threes, the Philadelphia 76ers have been flashing championship form since the arrival of James Harden…