California Supreme Court Allows Waiver of Class Action in Employment Arbitration Agreement
The California Supreme Court invalidated one of its own opinions, the 2007 Gentry v. Superior Court (Circuit City) decision, which held that class action waivers in employment agreements are unconscionable and thus unenforceable. The continued viability of Gentry has been in doubt since the U. S. Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, which held that arbitrating on a class-wide basis frustrates the fundamental purposes of the Federal Arbitration Act. In the current case, Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles LLC, the California Supreme Court held that a waiver of class action arbitration is enforceable. However, the Court also held that such a waiver is not effective to bar a plaintiff from bringing an action for California Labor Law violations under the state Private Attorney General Act. See CBA’s Legal Notes for more information.