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Posts tagged NLRA.
An Agreement to Arbitrate Employment Claims Must Also Allow for Access to Full Remedies Before the NLRB

In a separate post, we discussed several cases decided by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in which the Board invalidated agreements requiring employees to arbitrate employment-related claims due to vague language that did not make it clear that employees retained the right to pursue claims under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) before the NLRB. The recent decision in Kelly Services, Inc.. 368 NLRB No. 130 (12/12/2019) illustrates that even explicitly permitting claims before the NLRB will not guarantee an arbitration agreement’s survival if substantial ...

Watch Your Language: An Agreement to Arbitrate Employment Claims Must Allow for NLRA Claims Before the NLRB

The U.S. Supreme Court settled the long-standing dispute regarding the viability of class arbitration waivers in employment contracts with its determination in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 584 U. S. ____ (2018) that they indeed are enforceable, contrary to the position taken by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But that did not close the book on all questions regarding employment agreement arbitration clauses, nor did it mean that the NLRB would resolve remaining questions regarding the limits on their enforceability in favor of the employer. While class waivers and ...

A Split U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Class Waivers in Individual Employment Agreements, Highlighting the Role of Congress in the Class Waiver Fight

The viability of class waivers in employment agreements has been a closely watched battle in the courts since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in D. R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, Case 12–CA–25764, 357 NLRB No. 184 (2012) that class waivers in individual employment agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by preventing employees from engaging in concerted action related to their employment. Faced with an Executive Branch that was “speaki[ng] from both sides of its mouth” on this issue and a Congress that recently overturned another ...

This year important questions regarding the viability of class action waivers in arbitration agreements have moved close to resolution. In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a long-awaited final rule that prohibited class waivers in arbitration agreements related to a broad range of financial products. And employees and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have continued to push against the enforceability of class waivers in the context of individual employment agreements, driving the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court for review. On November 1 ...

In the years following the U.S. Supreme Court’s AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion decision, more and more courts enforced class waivers in arbitration agreements based on the commands of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) parted with the post-Concepcion trend to enforce class waivers in D. R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, Case 12–CA–25764, 357 NLRB No. 184 (Jan. 3, 2012), however, and held that such waivers in individual employment agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by prohibiting employees from acting in ...

As it stands, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has taken the position that class action waivers in individual employee/employer arbitration agreements are illegal and the agency continues to invalidate these agreements even though the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that they are enforceable.  In D.R. Horton (2012), the NLRB invalidated class action waivers in individual employment agreements on the grounds that such waivers interfere with an employee’s rights to collective action provided by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The Fifth ...

NLRB Judge Finds Employment Contract’s Arbitration Clause Invalid Although No Explicit “Waiver” of Class Actions

Last week, a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Administrative Law Judge reiterated the agency’s position that employers who require the arbitration of grievances by employees on an individual basis violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by precluding protected concerted activity of the class and collective action mechanisms.  We have seen the NLRB strike down explicit class action waivers in employment contracts in its decisions since D.R. Horton (2012) and Murphy Oil (2014), contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Concepcion line of cases that ...

Failed Attempts to Enforce Employee Non-Compete and Confidentiality Agreements: On Employees of Acquired Companies in North Carolina & Running Afoul the NLRA

Non-competition and confidentiality agreements can serve as invaluable tools to safeguard against the loss of confidential and proprietary information through current and former employees. However, recent state and federal cases serve as a critical reminder that these agreements may fail to protect companies if they are poorly crafted with arguably over broad restrictions or unsupported by sufficient consideration. We discuss two scenarios presented by AmeriGas Propane, LP v. Coffey, 2014 NCBC 4 (N.C. Super. Ct. 2014) and Flex Frac Logistics, L.L.C. v. NLRB, 198 ...

Redefining the Power of Arbitration in Unfair Labor Practice Cases: NLRB Solicited Briefs on the Issue

REDEFINING THE POWER OF ARBITRATION IN UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CASES: NLRB SOLICITED BRIEFS ON THE ISSUE - In line with recent efforts in the courts to define the scope of power of the arbitral forum, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently took on the issue of whether to modify the standard it applies to determine whether to defer to an arbitrator’s decision in a matter that presents unfair labor practice issues.  NLRB General Counsel requested that the Board modify the standard to require deferral, so long as it is not repugnant to the Act, if the party seeking deferral ...

“Loath to create a circuit split,” the Fifth Circuit Overturns NLRB’s D.R. Horton Ruling that Class Arbitration Waivers in Individual Employment Contracts Violate the NLRA

            The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rendered its long-awaited decision in D.R. Horton, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 12-60031 (5th Cir.  Dec. 3, 2013), revised December 4, 2013, which reversed the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruling that held a class arbitration waiver contained in an arbitration provisions of individual employment contracts violated the rights of employees under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) to engage in concerted activities.  The NLRB issued its decision in D. R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, Case 12–CA–25764, 357 NLRB No. 184 ...

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