United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit

Ninth Circuit Affirms California Restriction on Arbitration Agreements

On September 28, 2015, a divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal upheld California’s ban on PAGA waivers in arbitration agreements. Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail N. Am., Inc., No. 13-55184, 2015 WL 5667912 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2015). The 2 to 1 decision held that the ruling of the California Supreme Court in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal. 4th 348 (2014) prohibiting employee waivers of representative Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) claims in workplace arbitration agreements, did not violate the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) which requires that arbitration agreements be enforced according to their terms.Continue reading