Seyfarth Synopsis in a Second: A clause in an
employment arbitration agreement that authorizes preliminary
injunctive relief in court does not make the agreement
unenforceable.
As a general proposition, arbitration agreements between
employers and employees will be enforced unless the agreement is
both procedurally and substantively unconscionable. In Baltazar
v. Forever 21, Inc., the Supreme Court of California
considered whether a clause authorizing preliminary injunctive
relief in court rendered an agreement substantively unconscionable,
on the ground that the employer was far more likely to use that
procedure than was the employee. The Supreme Court held that this
clause does no more than restate existing statutory law and,
therefore, does not render the agreement unconscionable. The
Supreme Court also rejected challenges to other parts of the
agreement, finding none of them to be unconscionable.
