Court Agreed With Trial Court That Parties’ Arbitration Agreement Expressly Excluded Statutory Claims From The Arbitration Obligation.
On July 14, 2014, I blogged about Rebolledo v. Tilly’s, Inc., in which the Court of Appeal, 4th District, Division 3, affirmed the trial court’s order denying an employer’s motion to compel arbitration of an employee’s putative class action regarding statutory wage claims. The key to the case was that the operative language in the employment agreement provided for arbitration, except for “matters governed by the California Labor Commissioner.” The Court of Appeal held that the employee’s statutory wage claims were within the jurisdiction of the California Labor Commissioner if they would have fallen within its jurisdiction, even if the claims were not brought before the Commissioner – and that was the case. Therefore, the statutory wage claims were excluded from arbitration. On August 6, 2014, the Court certified the case for publication.
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