A recent class action survey by Carlton Field determined that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a major driving force behind class action lawsuits in the year 2020.
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On March 15, 2021, California employees of The Merchant of Tennis, Inc. filed a class action lawsuit for various wage claims including failure to compensate non-exempt employees for undergoing COVID-19 temperature checks at the beginning of each work day
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The Supreme Court ruled this week that class-action waivers in arbitration agreements are lawful. The much-anticipated Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis decision provides clarity to employers nationwide, who previously were required to navigate a patchwork of various state, federal, and agency rules concerning the use of class-action waivers in employment arbitration agreements.
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In a rare move, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reversed its Obama-Era position in a significant pending Supreme Court case that is expected to resolve a growing circuit split over whether an employment contract that requires an employee to waive his or her right to bring or participate in a class action violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). In an amicus curiae brief filed on Friday, June 16, 2017, the DOJ sided with employers, expressly acknowledging that it had “previously filed a petition…on behalf of the NLRB, defending the Board’s view” that class action waivers should be invalidated, but stating that “[a]fter the change in administration, the [DOJ] reconsidered the issue and has reached the opposite conclusion.” In stating that its previous position did not give “adequate weight to the congressional policy favoring enforcement of arbitration agreements that is reflected in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”),” the DOJ argued in its amicus brief that enforcing arbitration agreement with class waivers does not deprive employees under the NLRB, and that enforcement is required under the FAA with certain limited exceptions.
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