Wells Fargo & Co customers aiming to sue the bank over bogus accounts opened in their names may be in for an unpleasant surprise: the fine print requires them to take their claims to an arbitrator instead of a court. Continue Reading Below Mandatory arbitration rules inserted into account-opening agreements prohibit customers from joining class actions or suing the third-largest U.S. bank in …
Now that Gretchen Carlson has settled her claims against former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes for a reported $20 million, many observers lament that her specific allegations of sexual harassment will never come to light, presumably barred by terms of a non-disclosure agreement. Yet she likely would have been barred from sharing her story regardless—thanks to fine print in many employment …
In 2008, a dozen women employed by Sterling Jewelers sued the company. They’re alleging sexual discrimination at the highest levels. The matter, once argued in contractually mandated private arbitration proceedings, has now evolved into a class-action lawsuit, with the trial beginning next month…
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that Uber [corporate site] drivers may not join in a class action suit to pursue employment claims against the transportation company but must resolve their disputes individually. The claims included a host of employment contract issues as well as allegations that the company responsible for …
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 Since the United States Supreme Court upheld the validity of class action waivers in commercial consumer arbitration agreements several years ago, many employers have found arbitration agreements with class action waivers a valuable tool to protect against the tide of class action litigation. In addition to avoiding the risk of a runaway jury award, these agreements …
Can employers still require employees to sign arbitration agreements with class action waivers as a condition of employment? Last week, the Ninth Circuit became the second appellate court to adopt the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) position that class action waivers violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in Morris v. Ernst & Young LLP. In February 2012, the plaintiffs …
To date, a common practice when hiring in California, and throughout the nation, has been to have new hires sign an employment contract. And, often times, there’s a little– but mighty– clause in there requiring the use of arbitration to solve any future disputes between employee and employer. What’s more, these agreements sometimes have something called a class-action waiver attached to them, …
Fox News struck back against the former anchor Andrea Tantaros on Monday, filing a motion to move her sexual harassment lawsuit into arbitration. In papers filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, the network said, “Tantaros is not a victim; she is an opportunist.” Last week, Ms. Tantaros filed the lawsuit in the same court, accusing Fox News of operating like “a sex-fueled, Playboy …
A federal judge on Friday granted a request by Uber Technologies Inc and its chief executive officer to put a passenger’s price-fixing lawsuit against them on hold, while they appeal his refusal to let them arbitrate the dispute. Calling his decision a “close call,” U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said the defendants had not made a “strong …
Ernst & Young LLP [ERNY.UL] cannot require its employees to give up their rights to pursue work-related claims together, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday, giving a major boost to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board’s campaign against so-called class action waivers. Companies have increasingly included provisions in employment contracts forcing workers to arbitrate …