Second Circuit Mandates Arbitration For Title VII Class Action

The editors wanted to share this analysis, by Proskauer's Employment Litigation and Arbitration Group, of the Second Circuit's interesting recent decision requiring a Title VII plaintiff, even in a class action, to arbitrate her claims:

On March 21, 2013, the Second Circuit issued its highly-anticipated decision enforcing an arbitration clause and holding that a Title VII plaintiff does not have a substantive right to proceed on a class-wide basis in arbitration or in court. Parisi v. Goldman, Sachs & Co., No. 11-5529-cv (2d Cir. Mar. 21, 2013).

Background

On September 16, 2010, plaintiff-appellee Lisa Parisi, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs who was terminated in November 2008, filed a putative class action against Goldman Sachs alleging pattern or practice gender discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. (Title VII) and the New York City Human Rights Law, Administrative Code of the City of