Fifth Circuit Holds Class Arbitration is Issue for Arbitrator in Texas Employment Dispute
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A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel has held whether a group of workers may engage in class arbitrationunder the terms of a broadly worded arbitration agreement should be decided by an arbitrator. In Robinson, et al. v. J & K Administrative Management Services, Inc., et al., No. 15-10360 (5th Cir., March 17, 2016), a Texas-based management company, J & K, entered into an agreement to arbitrate with each of the company’s workers as a condition of employment. Under the agreement, J & K workers were required to settle any wage disputes, “claims for a violation of any other federal, state or governmental law, statu[t]e, regulation or ordinance,” and disputes over the validity, enforceability, or applicability of the contract through arbitration proceedings.
In January 2014, a J& K worker, Robinson, filed an arbitration request with the company over her allegedly unpaid overtime wages. Since the company ignored her request, Robinson sought collective arbitration before JAMS. In response, JAMS filed a notice of intent to arbitrate with J & K. The company apparently ignored the notice from JAMS and Robinson filed both a complaint and a motion to compel arbitration with a Texas federal district court.
After examining the holding in Pedcor Management Co. Inc. Welfare Benefit Plan v. Nations Personnel of Texas, Inc. and the terms of the arbitration agreement, the district court ruled that the question of whetherclass arbitration was permissible under the parties’ contract should be decided by an arbitrator. The court then ordered the parties to engage in arbitral proceedings and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.
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