Michael S. Kun, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Los Angeles office, was quoted in Modern Healthcare, in “Supreme Court Ruling Could Ease Wage Lawsuits Against Healthcare Employers,” by Harris Meyer and Rachel Z. Arndt.
Following is an excerpt:
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing employers to require workers to sign individual arbitration agreements could sharply reduce class-action lawsuits against healthcare companies claiming violations of federal and state rules on wages, hours, and sexual and racial discrimination.
In a 5-4 decision last week on three consolidated cases, the high court held that companies can include clauses in employment contracts that require employees to resolve disputes through individual arbitration, barring them from banding together to seek relief for common issues. The decision could affect about 25 million employees. …
"Many employers will decide it's time to implement arbitration agreements with class-action waivers," said Michael Kun, an employment law specialist with Epstein Becker & Green in Los Angeles, who represents hospitals and ambulance companies. …
One unintended consequence of the ruling for employers, Kun said, is more workers may seek collective bargaining rights since they will have less opportunity to address common workplace grievances via class-action litigation.
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