California Workers Can Bring Class Action Even if They Signed Arbitration Agreement

The California Supreme Court handed workers a major victory Thursday, allowing them to bring class-action lawsuits alleging labor code violations even if they had signed agreements with their employers requiring them to arbitrate such disputes. This ruling is a major victory for employees seeking back pay for overtime, missed breaks and non-payment of wages. According to the L.A. Times some of the primary beneficiaries of the ruling could be thousands of white-collar workers in industries such as retail, food service, insurance, technology and banking who are called managers or assistant managers but who spend much of their day ringing up “sales, stocking shelves or sweeping the floor alongside the workers they supervise” and therefore don’t qualify as “exempt.” The high court’s ruling was 4-3 ruling. LA Times, Aug 31, 2007. “Corporations are trying to wipe out their employees’ ability to hold them accountable” by barring.