Court Denied Petition To Compel Arbitration In Employment Case.

Plaintiff and his employer entered into an agreement that all disputes would be resolved by arbitration and that class actions were prohibited. After he was terminated, plaintiff filed a class action alleging various Labor Code violations and unfair business practices. Finding the prohibition against class actions in the agreement to be improper in the test set forth in Gentry v. Sup. Ct. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 443 [64 Cal.Rptr.3d 773, 165 P.3d 556], the trial court denied defendant’s petition to compel arbitration. In affirming, the Court of Appeal stated that in light of the holding in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348 [173 Cal.Rptr.3d 289, 327 P.3d 129], the Gentry rule against employment class waivers was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act [FAA], but that “this matter is not subject to the FAA, however, and Gentry’s holding has not been overturned under California law in situations where the FAA does not apply.” (Garrido v. Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 2; October 26, 2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 833.)