Jeremy Sherman Quoted in Employment Law360
"High Court Ruling Sheds Light On Role Of Arbitration"

Jeremy Sherman was quoted in the June 24, 2010 Employment Law360 article, "High Court Ruling Sheds Light On Role Of Arbitration." The article discussed the U.S. Supreme Court Granite Rock Co. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters et al. decision. According to the article, the Court handed a partial victory to Granite Rock Co. and clarified its stance on arbitration jurisdiction, finding that courts, not arbitrators, must hear disputes over the formation of collective bargaining agreements.

According to Jeremy, “There's certainly nothing new to the fundamental principle that determining whether or not there's an issue to arbitrate that's covered by a contract is for the court to decide. That has been the decision of the law for a long time. At the same time, what gets this more complicated is not only the facts, but the strong federal presumption favoring arbitrability.” He explained that typically, management agrees to arbitration as a “quid pro quo” in exchange for a commitment from a union not to strike. Jeremy further noted that “Each side gives up something to have a third party decide its disputes. The flip side of that is that neither party — neither management nor labor — should be required to submit something to arbitration unless they've entered into this contractual agreement.”