With a trio of decisions this term, the Supreme Court added to its growing body of arbitration jurisprudence. On the heels of its landmark decision last term in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018), upholding class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements, the court now decided whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) authorizes class arbitration based on an arbitration agreement that does not clearly provide for such proceedings; whether the court or an arbitrator decides if a dispute is covered by an arbitration clause; and whether independent contractors in the transportation industry may be bound by arbitration agreements in light of the FAA’s exclusion for “contracts of employment” of certain transportation workers. This month’s column discusses these three key rulings and the impact each is likely to have on the arbitration of employment-related claims.

Class Arbitration

In Lamps Plus v. Varela, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019), the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that courts may not compel class-wide arbitration where an arbitration agreement is ambiguous as to whether the parties agreed to arbitrate on a class basis. With this decision, the court reaffirmed and extended its 2010 holding in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l, 559 U.S. 662 (2010), that parties may not be compelled to submit to class arbitration under the FAA where the arbitration agreement is silent on the issue of class arbitration.

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