Supreme Court Schedules Oral Argument in Iskanian

The California Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (6/4/12) --- Cal.App.4th --- (discussed here). In Iskanian, the Court of Appeal issued a broad-ranging decision which held, among other points: 

Concepcion invalidated the holding in Gentry v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 443, that class waivers in arbitration agreements should not be enforced if “class arbitration would be a significantly more effective way of vindicating the rights of affected employees than individual arbitration.” 

The NLRB incorrectly decided D.R. Horton (discussed here), and nothing in the NLRA or the Norris-La Guardia Act evidences an intent to override the FAA's policies in favor of construing arbitration agreements according to their terms.  

Contrary to the holding in Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 489 (discussed here), Concepcion applies to a plaintiff's representative claims under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).  

Contrary to the holding in Reyes v. Macy’s Inc. (2011) 202 Cal.App.4th 1119, (discussed here), the plaintiff could pursue individual PAGA claims in arbitration.  

The Court will hear oral argument on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 9:00 a.m., in Los Angeles. The Supreme Court's docket page for Iskanian is here.

We will address Iskanian at the State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section's Fourth Annual Advanced Wage and Hour Conference on July 30 in Los Angeles, so we will not run a separate Watch List webinar on it. I believe that the Conference will be available for viewing via webcast. More information to follow.