NLRB Decision Overturned by Court

A federal appeals court has overturned a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that barred employers from requiring workers to sign arbitration agreements forbidding them from filing class actions or collective claims on such issues as pay and hours. (Court Document)

According to The Wall Street Journal, the ruling is a victory for companies that had been concerned the NLRB decision would open the floodgates for class-action lawsuits. But it is a loss for labor groups that had said allowing such agreements would raise the costs for workers seeking to file individual claims — or would expose them to pressure not to file at all.

Former NLRB member Marshall Babson said, “The issue is whether or not employers can avoid expensive and needlessly excessive class-action litigation by having alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.”