NEWS ALERT: California Supreme Court Issues Mixed Bag Decision Re: Class and Representative Waivers in Employment Arbitration Agreements

Today, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, Inc. The Court upheld the general enforceability of class waivers in mandatory employment arbitration agreements, concluding that its prior decision holding to the contrary in Gentry v. Superior Court, 42 Cal.4th 443 (2007) had been abrogated by U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Importantly, however, the Court created an exception for representative actions under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) (Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.), holding that “an arbitration agreement requiring an employee as a condition of employment to give up the right to bring representative PAGA actions in any forum is contrary to public policy.” Please stay tuned for a more detailed analysis of the decision in this week’s newsletter.