California's legislature has passed two new statutes that
increase the protections for employees arbitrating workplace
disputes.
SB 1007, which passed on September 1, 2016,
gives any party to arbitration proceedings "the right to have
a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition,
proceeding, or hearing as the official record." I routinely
advise employers to have depositions and hearings reported since it
makes it easier to cite to the record when there's a ... um ...
a record.
The other new statute, SB 1241, passed on September 9, 2016. This
statute says that arbitration provisions can't require
California employees to arbitrate their claims in other states or
require arbitrators to apply other state's laws. I think that,
even under prior law, such requirements would have been deemed
unconscionable, especially since courts have been vigilant in
insisting that employees not be required to bear expenses or
burdens in arbitration that exceed what they'd
