In a ruling of first impression affecting state class action litigants, a Manhattan appeals court on Tuesday decided that a former insurance company agent cannot be forced to arbitrate with her employer despite her contract's arbitration provision.

The 3-2 ruling by the Appellate Division, First Department, panel normally would have struck a blow for employees' rights to bring collective actions against their employers.

But the detailed analysis in Gold v. New York Life Insurance, 653923/12, is only temporary. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide the same issue in a matter of months, and, in fact, some lawyers on Tuesday were left wondering why the First Department weighed in at all.