The first day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 term may go down as “an epic day for employers,” according to court-watchers analyzing oral arguments in a case that will likely decide the extent to which employers can compel employees to arbitrate work disputes instead of taking class-action lawsuits to court.
The “epic” description was a play on words—the case argued Oct. 2 is Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis—but also a marker of how high the stakes are.
After hearing oral arguments, attorney Amy Howe, who reports on the Supreme Court for the respected scotusblog.com web site, wrote that the court “seemed likely to uphold employment agreements that require an employee to resolve a dispute with an employer through individual arbitration, waiving the possibility of proceeding collectively.”
More than half of U.S. employees are required to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, according to research by the Economic Policy Institute.
Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis asks which of two federal laws govern mandatory arbitration:
- The Federal Arbitration Act, which generally favors arbitration agreements
- The National Labor Relations Act, which grants employees broad rights to band together to promote mutual work interests.
Based on the tone of justices’ questions, several experts predicted a narrow 5-4 decision endorsing employer rights to require arbitration instead of resolving disputes through class-action lawsuits.
A decision in the case is expected in the first half of 2018. Read more about the case in the SCOTUS blog.
[icegram unknown-campaigns=”48301″ known-campaigns=”48199″]
