Employment Contracts

Court: Class-action waiver of future claims OK despite current litigation

01/11/2019

A California state appeals court has upheld the right of an employer to require an employee to sign off on an arbitration agreement even though there may be a pending class-action lawsuit in which she is a party member—as long as the class-action subject matter can still be heard in arbitration.

Court hearing federal whistleblower case upholds broad arbitration agreement

01/04/2019

A federal court in Texas has upheld a broad arbitration clause, concluding it applies to all claims related to employment.

Arbitration agreements may have to go to court first

12/04/2018

Because arbitration agreements are contracts, there are still preliminary questions to be resolved, such as whether an agreement was written in a way that binds both parties. That can mean a preliminary court battle.

California courts can modify arbitration agreements

11/28/2018

In certain arbitration agreements, employees cannot waive the right to collect attorneys’ fees if they prevail. But including such a waiver in the agreement doesn’t necessarily doom it.

Arbitration pacts: Beware language barriers

11/28/2018

Employers who have their employees sign arbitration agreements need to consider what might happen if an employee challenges the agreement on the grounds that it might be unconscionable.

Facebook, Google end harassment-arbitration rules

11/19/2018

Under pressure from employees, a pair of tech giants—Facebook and Google—revised their policies last month to make private arbitration a choice (rather than a requirement) in employee sexual harassment claims.

Visa sponsorship isn’t an employment contract

11/14/2018

By sponsoring a visa application, an employer helps secure an employee’s right to work in the United States. But doing so doesn’t necessarily create any obligation to employ the worker for a set period of time.

Arbitration agreement format details matter

10/03/2018

Do you prefer to resolve employment-related disputes through arbitration instead of the court system? Then it’s quite likely that you include an arbitration agreement in your employment application. However, if you don’t get the wording just right, you may not be able to force a case into arbitration.

Are your noncompete agreements too broad?

09/27/2018

If your organization makes extensive use of noncompete agreements or is considering implementing them to prevent employees from jumping ship in this hot economy, it’s time to reconsider.

Yes, emailed arbitration agreement is valid

09/20/2018

These days, an electronic signature on an acknowledgment receipt is as good as a handwritten signature on a piece of paper. That’s true even for actual contracts such as arbitration agreements.