If you have an arbitration agreement, do you have to compel arbitration when the lawsuit is filed or can you wait awhile? This week, the Supreme Court concluded that a party litigating in federal court cannot later compel arbitration by arguing that the delay caused no harm or prejudice to the opposing party. If you
Employment Agreements
Six FLSA Resolutions for the New Year
With the minimum guaranteed salary requirement for the most common Fair Labor Standards Act exemptions being raised from $23,660 to $35,568, effective January 1, 2020, under a final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), now seems like an opportune time to review some of the FLSA requirements so often unintentionally tripped over…
Cooperate or Pay: Recovering Attorneys’ Fees to Get to Arbitration
Does your arbitration agreement allow you to recover attorneys’ fees if the employee rebels against arbitration and you have to compel it? Maybe it should. In Aralar v. Scott McRea Automotive Group, a court in Florida recently affirmed an arbitrator’s award of nearly $20,000 in attorney’s fees for the defendant’s hassle of moving for…
Does This Arbitration Agreement Make Me Look Sexist? The Moving Target of Using Arbitration Clauses
The Supreme Court Says Yes to Arbitration and Class Action Waivers
With its 5-4 ruling in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court delivered a seemingly big win for employers. The Supreme Court held that employees’ waiver of their rights to bring collective or class actions, as a term of an arbitration agreement,…
Wave Goodbye to Waivers? 6th Circuit Joins March to Prohibit Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements
Joining two other circuit courts, the 6th Circuit concluded that employers cannot take advantage of class action and collective action waivers as part of employment arbitration agreements. In NLRB v. Alternative Entertainment, Inc., the divided court agreed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that prohibiting employees from pursuing class action litigation or…