Arbitration

This decision affirms an order denying an employer's motion to compel arbitration in a wage and hour case. Though the employer called the plaintiff an independent contractor, the relationship was close enough to an employment relationship to make the Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83 standards of unconscionability applicable.  The arbitration provision was procedurally unconscionable… Read More

In Omstead v. Dell, Inc., 594 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2010), the Ninth Circuit had held that a plaintiff, against whom the district court had entered an order compelling arbitration, could take an appeal from that otherwise unappealable order by dismissing all his claims with prejudice.  Now, reviewing that same question in light of Microsoft Corp. v. Baker (2017) 137… Read More

The State of California is the real party in interest in a qui tam action brought by a private party under the Insurance Fraud Protection Act (Ins. Code 1871 et seq.).  The state is not bound by an arbitration provision in a contract signed by the private party bringing the qui tam action.  Accordingly, arbitration of the qui tam action… Read More

To admit her disabled, ill brother, for whom she acted as conservator, to a skilled nursing facility, plaintiff signed an admission agreement as well as two arbitration agreements, one for medical malpractice disputes, the other for all other disputes.  Plaintiff sued after the facility's poor care led to her brother's death.  The trial court denied the facility's motion to compel… Read More

This decision holds that the trial court correctly denied enforcement of an arbitration clause in a contraxt for other than medical services because the arbitration clause was one of the standard terms of the contract, on the reverse side, while the customer signed the agreement only on the front side.  The arbitration clause was in the same 8-pt. types as… Read More

If a defendant unsuccessfully moves to compel arbitration of a lawsuit filed against it, the lawsuit continues in court.  So for purposes of Civ. Code 1717, the plaintiff does not become the prevailing party on the contract simply by defeating the motion to compel arbitration.  However, if not yet having been sued, a party files an independent petition to compel… Read More

A minor who signs a contract may disaffirm the contract after reaching 18 years of age. Fam. Code 6710.  Plaintiff in this case signed an employment agreement with an arbitration clause to work as a waitress at a Del Taco restaurant when she was 16 years old.  This decision holds that she retained the right to disaffirm the contract after… Read More

This decision reverses a judgment confirming an arbitration award.  The arbitrator exceeded his powers by issuing an award that enforced an employment contract's provision that violated the employee's unwaivable statutory rights.  The employment agreement's confidentiality clause was so broadly written that it prohibited the employee from using any information not generally known to the securities industry for the benefit of… Read More

In a poorly lawyered case, this decision affirms an order denying a motion to compel arbitration, holding that the trial court properly held the arbitration clause was unconscionable.  It was procedurally unconscionable because it was a form contract presented to the patient only moments before the laser hair removal operation in a large stack of other paper she didn't have… Read More

This decision affirms a $22,000 sanction imposed on plaintiff's counsel under CCP 128.7 for bringing a frivolous motion to lift the stay pending arbitration.  The AAA had misapplied the defendant's arbitration fee and then closed the arbitration.  When notified of its error, the AAA acknowledged that it had received the fee payment and said it would reopen the arbitration if… Read More

Defendant, a vision insurance provider, terminated plaintiff, an optometrist, for using unapproved lens suppliers for defendant's patients.  Defendant's network doctor agreement provided for a two-step review process of disputes, including those over termination under these circumstances.  The first step was review by a three-member panel, the second step was arbitration.  This decision holds that this two-step process does not violate… Read More

Defendant's arbitration clause required arbitration of disputes "to the fullest extent permitted by law."  It also contained a class action waiver.  The "fullest extent" provision did not, on its face, preclude court litigation of public injunction claims, and so did not violate McGill.  But in federal court. plaintiff also had to establish Article III standing to proceed on the public… Read More

The trial court properly denied the defendant employer's motion to compel arbitration of plaintiff's "standing" to bring the PAGA action he filed against the employer.   Requiring plaintiff to arbitrate whether he was an “aggrieved employee” with standing to bring a representative PAGA action would require splitting that single action into two components: an arbitrable “individual” claim (i.e., whether he was… Read More

Distinguishing Clifford v. Quest Software Inc. (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 745, this decision holds that plaintiff sought a public injunction because unlike Clifford which sought relief on behalf of the defendant's relatively small group of employees, the plaintiff in this case sought to enjoin the defendant retailer from continuing business practices that would affect other members of the public (but not… Read More

Revitch was a long-time DIRECTV subscriber.  In 2011, when Revitch upgraded his mobile phone, he signed a new contract with AT&T Mobility which contained an arbitration clause requiring arbitration of any disputes arising out of or related to his relationship with AT&T or its affiliates.  In 2015 AT&T acquired DIRECTV.  In 2018, Revitch sued DIRECTV for violating the TCPA by… Read More

This decision holds that the US Supreme Court's later decision in Granite Rock Co. v. Int’l Bhd. Of Teamsters (2010) 561 U.S. 287, which expressly rejected the notion that labor arbitration disputes should be analyzed differently than commercial arbitration disputes undermined the reasoning of both Pacesetter Construction Co. v. Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Conference Bd. (9th Cir. 1997) 116… Read More

A class action waiver is conceptually distinct from an arbitration agreement, though the two are often found together.  FINRA Rule 13204 forbids class action FINRA arbitrations.  Subsection (a)(4) also forbids an employer from enforcing an arbitration agreement against an employee who is a member of a certified class in a court action, at least with respect to the claims asserted… Read More

Applying Arizona law, this decision holds:  (1) An ordinary fiduciary owes no duty to warn the beneficiary about an arbitration clause in the contract between them.  (2) An arbitration clause is presumed to continue to govern litigation arising from a contract even after the contract's other provisions have terminated--unless the agreement expressly or by clear implication provides otherwise.  Merely including… Read More

Moritz produced a series of Fast and Furious films for Universal.  In connection with those films, Moritz entered into contracts with Universal which contained arbitration clauses requiring arbitration of disputes arising out of or related to those agreements.  Some of the early films' arbitration clauses delegated arbitrability issues to the arbitrator by choosing JAMS rules.  But later ones did not. … Read More

The district court made a clear error as a matter of law in holding that an Uber driver was not a worker engaged in interstate commerce and thus exempt from the FAA.  Though interstate transportion of people as well as goods may constitute interstate commerce for FAA purposes, the focus under the FAA is on the employer's business and whether… Read More