California Is in Good Company as State Arbitration Limits Fall

A federal circuit court’s rejection of California’s unusual take on banning mandatory workplace arbitration contracts adds to a streak of losses for state lawmakers trying to rein in employer use of arbitration and raises doubts about whether any such state policy could escape federal preemption.

A divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against California’s 2019 law known as AB 51 on Feb. 15, finding it’s preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act and reversing the same panel’s prior ruling. State laws aiming to limit mandatory arbitration of workplace claims met similar fates in New ...