California’s Job Arbitration Law Wiped Out by Ninth Cir. (2)

California employers can force their workers to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment now that a federal appeals court has struck down a unique state law that limited the use of such workplace contracts.

A divided US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts Assembly Bill 51, a 2019 measure that prohibited employers from requiring job applicants or workers to sign arbitration pacts.

“Because the FAA’s purpose is to further Congress’s policy of encouraging arbitration, and AB 51 stands as an obstacle to that purpose, AB 51 is therefore ...