Supreme Court upholds agreements that prevent employee class-action suits
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that employers can include clauses in employment contracts that force employees to settle disputes individually with a third-party arbitrator.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said arbitration agreements, which bar employees from joining together in arbitration or a class-action lawsuit to settle disputes over wages and working conditions, are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act.
Justice Neil Gorsuch said in delivering the opinion of the court that the employees challenging the agreements mistakenly claimed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) overrides the Federal Arbitration Act and renders the agreements unlawful.
“The policy may be debatable but the law is clear: Congress has instructed that arbitration agreements like those before us must be enforced as written,” he wrote.
“While Congress is of course always free to amend this judgment, we see nothing suggesting it did so in the NLRA — much less that it manifested a clear intention to displace the Arbitration Act.”
NLRA gives workers the right to organize union and bargain collectively, but Gorsuch said it does not confer a right for employees to join class or collective actions in court or in arbitration.
http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/388601-supreme-court-upholds-agreements-that-prevent-employee-class-action?userid=229233
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