US Supreme Court Delays Ruling on Class Action Waivers

On February 8, 2017, the United States Supreme Court deferred its much awaited decision on the enforcement of class action waivers in the employment context. As a refresher on this topic, class action waivers typically reside in arbitration agreements where an employee agrees to waive his or her right to pursue their claims in a class-action, instead agreeing to pursue those claims in an individual arbitration. This most commonly arises in claims for overtime wages, discrimination, or harassment that, absent the waiver, could be pursued in a class action format. On January 13, 2017 the Supreme Court consolidated the three cases discussed here for the purpose of deciding legality of these waivers. That decision will now have to wait.