Class Action

Arbitration agreements are quickly becoming employers’ best and most common defense against class action lawsuits by their employees. As discussed in the recent New York Times article “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice,” in addition to depriving employees of the opportunity to have their claims heard in court, arbitration agreements often waive employees’ right to participate in class actions, a crucial…

As I’ve noted previously on this blog, it is important for workers to understand how forced arbitration—a seemingly innocuous procedural issue—undermines their civil rights. Earlier this week I talked with Roberta Steele, Program Director at the National Employment Lawyers Association.  Roberta’s work focuses on issues that prevent workers from having full and equal access to the courts.  Prior to joining NELA,…

As women’s rights activists chart a new course in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, will they increasingly take the feminist fight directly to corporations with weak records on gender equality? In the wake of last week’s ruling, pockets of activists have taken to social media and mounted protests at locations of the religiously conservative arts-and-crafts chain, which can now opt…