Decision In Jock v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. (Second Circuit)

Key Issue

Whether an arbitrator may certify an arbitration class binding non-parties who signed an arbitration agreement authorizing an arbitrator to determine whether the agreement permits class procedures.

Background

Plaintiffs are a group of female current and former retail sales employees of Defendant Sterling Jewelers Inc. ( "Sterling"), who allege that they were paid less than their male counterparts on account of their gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d).

Each plaintiff agreed to a mandatory arbitration agreement called the "RESOLVE Program" agreement.¹ The RESOLVE agreement provides that any claim arising under the agreement will be arbitrated "in accordance with the National Rules for the Resolution of Employment Disputes of the American Arbitration Association,"² and that "[q]uestions of arbitrability" and other "procedural questions" "shall be