Supreme Court Reiterates That Class Arbitration Cannot Be Compelled Absent Explicit Consent

Tina Tellado is a Partner in our Los Angeles office.

Deisy Castro is an Associate or Partner in our Los Angeles office.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Lamps Plus, Inc., et al. v. Varela, on April 24, 2019, holding in a 5-4 decision that courts may not infer from an ambiguous arbitration agreement that parties have consented to class arbitration.
• The Supreme Court's ruling overturns a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's decision permitting a Lamps Plus employee to pursue class arbitration of his data breach class claims.
• With this most recent decision in Lamps Plus, the Supreme Court appears to have put the final nail in the plaintiffs' bar ability to evade employers' arbitration agreements foreclosing class action claims.