Electronic Signatures: The Next Battleground for Employee Arbitration Agreements with Class Action Waivers

Michael S. Kun, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Los Angeles office, authored an article in Bloomberg Law, titled “Electronic Signatures: The Next Battleground for Employee Arbitration Agreements with Class Action Waivers.”

Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):

Since the US Supreme Court's seminal decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (2018) 584 U.S. ___, an increasing number of employers have implemented arbitration agreements with class and collective action waivers. Those agreements have been effective in convincing courts to dismiss class or collective actions brought by plaintiffs who have signed such agreements.

While a well-written arbitration agreement with a class and collective action waiver should be enforceable so long as interstate commerce is involved, thus triggering application of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and Epic Systems, employers have learned that there is a new battleground in enforcing these agreements—whether the employee signed the agreement in the first place.

That issue may give employees a way of escaping their arbitration agreements—and give those judges who do not enjoy the way employers use arbitration agreements a way to avoid enforcing them. At the crux of this dispute is technology. Or, more specifically, electronic signatures.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. (800-372-1033) Electronic Signatures: The Next Battleground for Employee Arbitration Agreements With Class Action Waivers. Reproduced with permission.