Second Circuit Holds That Arbitration Agreements May Bar Title VII Pattern-Or-Practice Discrimination Claims

In a decision that may have significant implications for employment discrimination claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on March 21, 2013 that employees who have signed arbitration agreements with their employers may be barred from litigating Title VII "pattern-or-practice" discrimination claims. In Parisi v. Goldman Sachs & Co., the court held that Title VII does not grant employees a substantive statutory right to bring pattern-or-practice discrimination claims. "Pattern-or-practice" simply refers to a method of proof and does not constitute a "freestanding cause of action." Accordingly, arbitration agreements prohibiting class actions, which include pattern-or-practice discrimination claims, do not impermissibly preclude employees from vindicating substantive statutory rights and will be enforced.