Client Alert
Reversing Previous Ruling, California Supreme Court Holds Arbitration Agreement that Waives Right to an Administrative Hearing May Be Enforceable
Client Alert
Reversing Previous Ruling, California Supreme Court Holds Arbitration Agreement that Waives Right to an Administrative Hearing May Be Enforceable
10/22/2013
On October 17, 2013, in Sonic-Calabasas v. Moreno (Sonic II), the California Supreme Court overturned its 2011 holding in Sonic-Calabasas v. Moreno (Sonic I) that an employee could not be required to waive his or her right to an administrative hearing concerning wage claims before the state’s Labor Commissioner. Following United States Supreme Court precedent, the California Supreme Court held in Sonic II that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts any state-law rule categorically prohibiting waiver of a hearing before a Labor Commissioner in a pre-dispute mandatory employment arbitration agreement.