Arbitration Archives - Kollman & Saucier P.A.

Union Advocacy Complicates the Challenge of Maintaining Order Among First Responders

Peter Saucier

02/01/2023

A bright national spotlight is focused upon the workplace behavior of First Responders. Each community, and its dedicated fire and police employees, knows to be alert and sensitive to the social reactions that flow from their conduct. Sometimes, unions and independent arbitrators throw a wrench into the machinery of exercising good judgment and requiring accountability essential to maintaining good order. A recent example recently arose in...

Kollman & Saucier

04/27/2022

Arbitration, Handbooks/Policies

Around the corner from our law offices is Nationwide Motor Sales Corporation (NMSC). NMSC has been sued by a collection of current and former sales persons who claim Nationwide failed to pay them more than $1 million in commissions. In response to the filed lawsuit, NMSC moved to compel arbitration, citing the Arbitration Agreement that is contained within its Employee Handbook. The Fourth Circuit just held, in Coady v. Nationwide Motor Sales...

Vincent Jackson

02/10/2022

Arbitration, Sexual Harassment

In response to the #MeToo Movement, Congress is on the cusp of passing bipartisan legislation that would prohibit employers from using forced arbitration to resolve claims of workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault. Though the final bill has not yet been presented for the President’s signature, drafts of the bill have passed both the House and the Senate. The ban on mandatory arbitration in employment contracts marks a sea change in how...

Kollman & Saucier

10/14/2021

Arbitration, Virginia Employment Law

One of the reasons employers sometimes require employees to enter into an arbitration agreement is that it eliminates the risk of having a jury decide the outcome. However, a Virginia judge recently ruled that an employer must have a jury trial on the issue of whether or not the employee is even required to arbitrate his or her claims. Davis v. Young & Associates, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-00061 (W.D. Va. 9/15/21) (Abingdon Div.) The case...

Frank Kollman

10/08/2019

Arbitration

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a decision of the Ninth Circuit (http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/12/04/16-16363.pdf) allowing an arbitrator to alter the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, despite contract language saying that the arbitrator could not alter the agreement in any way. ASARCO v. Steelworkers , No. 18-1415, Cert denied 10/7/19....

Kollman & Saucier

07/26/2019

Arbitration

Recently, a California Court of Appeal rejected a plaintiff/appellant’s claim that his case against his former employer -- which went to arbitration pursuant to their employment agreement -- should be reversed due to the arbitrator’s alleged undisclosed bias against homosexuals. Bogue v. Anesthesia Service Medical Group, Inc., No. D073518 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 7/17/19) (unpublished). Dr. Bogue was an anesthesiologist for Anesthesia Service...

Vincent Jackson

07/01/2019

Arbitration, Sexual Harassment

A trial judge in the Southern District of New York found that a sexual harassment claim was subject to a mandatory arbitration clause, even though a New York law recently enacted in the wake of the #MeToo movement nullified agreements to arbitrate sexual harassment claims. Latif v. Morgan Stanley, et al., 18-cv-11528-DLC (S.D.N.Y. June 26, 2019). In Latif, a male employee of Morgan Stanley alleged in his federal court complaint that he was sexually...

Darrell VanDeusen

03/18/2019

Arbitration, Legislative Developments

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the employment arena has been a hot topic for a couple of decades now. ADR, of course, comes in a variety of flavors – mediation and arbitration are a couple of them. But essentially, the ADR concept is to find ways other than a lawsuit in court to resolve claims more quickly and with less expense. That, at least conceptually, is a good thing, since court fights can take many years to work their way...

Kollman & Saucier

06/08/2018

Arbitration, Class Actions, Supreme Court Decisions

On May 21, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, which we previously discussed at length. That case, which upheld class action waivers in favor of individual arbitration, forces Gustavo Camilo to individually arbitrate his claim that Uber illegally charged him and other drivers a workers' compensation fee. Just a little more than one week after the Epic Systems decision, the trial judge in Camilo v. Uber Techs....

Kollman & Saucier

05/25/2018

Arbitration, Employment Contracts, Legal Developments

In the aftermath of Monday’s Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, as discussed on this blog, employers are free to include class-action waivers as part of their arbitration clauses in employment agreements. There is, however, a difference between whether employers can include such clauses and whether all employers should include them. Some of the assumed benefits of arbitration are that it is less formal, less expensive, and...

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Union Advocacy Complicates the Challenge of Maintaining Order Among First Responders

Handbook Receipt Language Dooms Mandatory Arbitration Clause

Congress on Cusp of Barring Arbitration for Employee Sexual Harassment Claims

Jury Must Decide If Employee Required to Arbitrate

Arbitrators Take One More Step Toward Infallibility

Arbitrator’s Alleged Bias Against Homosexuals Is Not Grounds to Reverse Award

Southern District of New York Sends Sexual Harassment Claim To Arbitration

“Forced” Arbitration Under Fire

Uber Driver Must Ride Solo: Class Action Waiver Enforced Post Epic Systems

A Potentially Epic Alternative To Class-Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses

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Category: Arbitration

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