(Arbitration) w/10 (Important Win For Employers): Sixth Circuit’s Reed Elsevier Decision Adds to Collection of Rulings Favoring Individual Arbitration

Can an employer that has agreed to arbitrate “all disputes” with its employees be required to participate in “class arbitration,” even if its arbitration agreement doesn’t mention class proceedings?  The answer often depends on who decides the question. 

Arbitrators sometimes find that standard arbitration clauses amount to agreements to participate in class arbitration, even when the clauses don’t mention class arbitration and even though class arbitration is about the last type of proceeding most employers would ever want. 

Judges, on the other hand, have been much less likely to interpret ordinary arbitration clauses as licenses for class arbitration.

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