In Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, 24 Cal.4th 83 (2000), the California Supreme Court held that employees cannot be compelled to arbitrate otherwise unwaivable statutory claims unless the agreed-upon arbitration procedures satisfy certain minimum procedural requirements. The court has held that the same requirements apply even to arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Little v. Auto Stiegler, 29 Cal.4th 1064 (2003). These landmark decisions have been cited hundreds of times, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 11 C.D.O.S. 4842, calls into question the continuing vitality of Armendariz‘s requirements, at least in cases where the FAA applies. The FAA, as construed by Concepcion, may pre-empt Armendariz‘s requirements for three independent reasons.

First, Concepcion holds that “[w]hen state law prohibits outright the arbitration of a particular type of claim, the analysis is straightforward: The conflicting rule is displaced by the FAA.” This principle should apply with full force to Armendariz, which held that an employee can be compelled to arbitrate unwaivable statutory claims only if certain minimum requirements are satisfied. Because Armendariz prohibits outright the arbitration of unwaivable statutory claims under arbitration agreements that fail to meet its procedural requirements, those requirements could be swept away by the FAA.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]