Supreme Court Unloads 9-0 Ruling on Taco Bell – They Just Unanimously Decided Against Fast Food Franchisee
We are nearing the end of the Supreme Court’s term. And the court is rolling out a number of rulings.
Americans wait for several significant rulings to come out. But until that time, the court continues to release some major decisions.
From SCOTUSblog:
The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled against a fast-food franchise owner in a procedural dispute over whether a wage-theft lawsuit belongs in federal court or in arbitration…
When a plaintiff who is subject to an arbitration agreement files a lawsuit in court, the defendant usually seeks to move the case to arbitration without delay. But this case was unusual: Sundance waited for eight months…
The district court concluded that Sundance had waived its right to arbitrate because its actions had prejudiced Morgan, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit disagreed.
On Monday, the justices reversed the 8th Circuit. Kagan wrote that the FAA does not authorize “special, arbitration-preferring procedural rules” like the one the 8th Circuit created.
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against a Taco Bell franchise owner. The owner, a company known as Sundance, delayed arbitration with a former employee.
The employee was suing the company, claiming they were violating federal wage-an-hour laws. But the company tried to get out of going to court because she signed an arbitration agreement.
Many companies require employees or customers to sign arbitration agreements, to avoid going to court.
But the company delayed going to arbitration for eight months. The Supreme Court ruled the company could not drag out this process and expect to come out the winner.
If companies were allowed to do this, they could take advantage of employees and customers. They would refuse to go to court, but never take a person to arbitration.
That would create a loophole in which companies could get out of being held accountable for bad practices or even violations of law.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that companies can’t do this. This ruling is a win for workers, consumers, and everyday Americans.
Source: SCOTUSblog