Pyett: The Supreme Court Approves Employment Claims in Labor Arbitrations
Why Attend?
The Supreme Court's 5-4 recent ruling in 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett endorsed labor contracts that send age discrimination claims to arbitration rather than to federal courts. The case arose after certain employees alleged that they were given less desirable placement because they were over age 50. They filed grievances under their collective bargaining agreement on a number of issues, including age discrimination under the ADEA, but the CBA contained a mandatory arbitration clause that excluded federal judicial remedies. In overruling the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court held that the CBA's freely-negotiated mandatory arbitration clause was enforceable.
As such, employers and unions may now have to decide if they want to "clearly and unmistakably" include individual employment claims in their CBAs. If they do, unions may have to pursue more individual employment claims or face unfair representation claims that the Court said would arise if unions discriminate against their members when deciding which claims to arbitrate. Furthermore, labor arbitrations may include more individual employment discrimination/harassment/retaliation claims, whereas they previously mostly involved interpretation of CBAs.
Lastly, the Pyett decision's majority specifically stated that it was not positioned to resolve whether a CBA permits the union to prevent employees from “effectively vindicating” their federal statutory rights in the arbitral forum. The Court thus left for another day how it would decide these issues if the union controlled access to and the ability to use the arbitration process to effectively vindicate one’s statutory right to non-discrimination.
What You Will Learn
Whether you are an experienced employment law practitioner or are new to this field of law, learning about the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett (No. 07–581; decided April 1, 2009) is important to your practice—and your clients. Join us for a live teleseminar and audio webcast to get a critical review of Pyett and a host of other issues related to employment arbitration:
The issue in Pyett not resolved: What is the result when the union controls access?
Will employers and unions now have to decide if they want to include individual employment claims in their collective bargaining agreements?
What is the practical effect of Pyett in unionized work forces?
Is the holding in Vaden v. Discover Bank (No. 07-773; decided March 9, 2009) a small victory for plaintiffs, allowing them in some circumstances to force the arbitration dispute into state court?
Will labor arbitrations include more individual employment discrimination/harassment/retaliation claims?
Will they start resembling the litigation-like employment arbitration proceedings handled by arbitration service providers (AAA, JAMS, etc.), with all the costs and delays that arbitration was supposed to avoid?
What impact will 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett have on the congressional debate over the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act?
What are the trends regarding agreements for mandatory arbitration of employment disputes?
What other arbitration issues of importance will the Supreme Court decide this term?
Invest just 90 minutes at your home or office to learn the details and ramifications of 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett from a group of experts. This audio program comes to you live on Friday, May 8, 2009, 1:00 to 2:30 pm EDT, via your phone or your computer. The format will allow for questions to be put to the panel during the program via email. Corresponding course material may be downloaded or viewed online.
Planning Chairs
Robert B. Fitzpatrick, Esquire, Robert B. Fitzpatrick, PLLC, Washington, D.C.
Frank C. Morris, Jr., Esquire, Epstein Becker & Green, PC, Washington, D.C.
Faculty
F. Paul Bland, Jr., Esquire, Public Justice Foundation, Washington, DC 20006
Paul E. Starkman, Esquire, Arnstein & Lehr LLP, Chicago, IL
Patrick J. Szymanski, Esquire, Change To Win, Washington, DC 20036
For group tuition discounts, click on the Registration link at top and register online at the discounted rates, or go to the Group Webcast Page or email groupregistration@ali-aba.org for assistance.
Program Schedule
(All Times Eastern Standard)
1:00 pm Pyett: The Supreme Court Approves Arbitration of Employment Claims
Panel discussion
2:10 pm Audience Questions--Panel discussion
2:30 pm Adjournment
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 1.5; Total 50-minute hours of instruction: 1.8
Suggested Prerequisite: Experience in employment law and litigation generally, as well as employment arbitration.
Educational Objective: To learn about the recently-issued employment law decision of the United States Supreme Court—14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett (No. 07–581)—and its effect on the arbitration of employment claims.
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Times
Eastern: 1:00 am - 2:30 pm
Central: 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm
Mountain: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Pacific & Arizona: 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Alaska: 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Hawaii: 7:00 am - 8:30 am
