On Friday, December 6, 2019, a coalition of national and state trade associations filed suit in California federal court seeking to strike down the state’s recently enacted “anti-arbitration” law, A.B. 51.
On October 13, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 51 into law, banning most employment arbitration agreements in California starting January 1, 2020.
With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment implications. Closing out his first year in office, Governor Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on varied topics.
The California Supreme Court recently held that unpaid wages are not civil penalties under California Labor Code section 558 and are therefore outside the reach of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
On August 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion permitting arbitration of a breach of fiduciary duty claim filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
In line with recently passed legislation in New York and California, Illinois’ legislature rallied to create a bill that would help increase employee protections by combating discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Last week, on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent pro-arbitration pronouncements, the Eighth Circuit issued a reminder that, although agreements to arbitrate are favored under the law, arbitration agreements must still be contracts.
