This Supreme Court Case Puts 25 MILLION Employment Contracts at Stake
2nd October 2017
The case concerns how employees may bring actions against their employers. Many employment contracts, some 25 million according to respondents lawyer Daniel Ortiz, contain provisions requiring employees to resolve disputes with employers in arbitration on an individual basis, effectively forbidding workers from organizing class actions. Critics of these provisions say they purposefully empower management at the expense of labor, since they inhibit workers from organizing to secure better contracts.
Though the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) provides that a contract provision requiring arbitration must be enforced, section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) establishes the right of workers to engage in “concerted activities” to secure mutual aid and protection. At issue in Monday’s case was whether the NLRA allows employers to enforce contracts requiring case-by-case arbitration.