Employee Data Breach Claims Headed for Class Arbitration

Lamps Plus Inc. employees may pursue data breach claims against the company in classwide arbitration, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Aug. 3 in an unpublished opinion (Varela v. Lamps Plus, Inc., 2017 BL 271162, 9th Cir., No. 16-56085, unpublished 8/3/17).

Frank Varela’s employment agreement with the company is ambiguous on whether it allows employees to arbitrate as a group, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

This ambiguity should be construed against the drafter and in favor of Varela, who seeks class arbitration, the court said.

Other courts have been reluctant to allow classwide ...