CA Top Court Hands Employers New Arbitration Enforcement Tool

In a complex employer-employee lawsuit that took twists and turns as the U.S. Supreme Court introduced landmark rulings on compelled arbitration and the validity of class action waivers saw a 6-1 ruling by the California Supreme Court in favor of the employer. The California Supreme Court ruling is noteworthy, says Sedgwick LLP attorney Kirk Jenkins, because California’s top court has in the past been reluctant to enforce many business arbitration agreements. In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles LLC, a former driver for the company filed a class action complaint after leaving the firm and CLS Transportation sought to compel arbitration. Jenkins breaks down the labyrinthine history of the case and notes that employers “have a powerful new tool to persuade lower courts, some of which have been resistant to arbitration even while Iskanian was pending, to enforce arbitration agreements even where they include class action waivers.”