U.S. Supreme Court Delays Hearing on Cases that may Decide whether Class Action Rights can be Waived

The U.S. Supreme Court may have accepted a group of cases that will determine whether companies can require their workers to waive class action rights, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be deciding this important question anytime soon. After accepting the cases for review in January, the Court announced that it will not hold oral arguments this term. The cases will be argued in Fall 2017 and decided some time thereafter, perhaps well into 2018.

The significance of this is patent. First, it suggests that the Court may be divided on the class action waiver question and requires a deciding voter. The Court now has only 8 justices in the wake of the Republicans’ 2016 refusal to consider President Obama’s nominee to the bench. They won’t do the same with their own party’s nominee(s), and the Court will surely have 9 members soon. Second, the delay means that uncertainty over class action waivers in employment agreements will remain for some time. This will likely encourage litigation in lower courts over the issue and may cause decisions to be delayed.

It is common today for companies to have their workers sign agreements that include arbitration provisions requiring lawsuits to be pursued individually. This is sometimes impractical due to the small size of a claim, and an employee or independent contractor therefore may seek to bring suit on behalf of others. The Supreme Court has previously found that mandatory arbitration agreements are generally enforceable. It’s now being asked to resolve lower court disagreement about whether federal law allows companies to avoid class action lawsuits through arbitration clauses.