Sterling Jewelers Pay Bias Class Properly Certified: 2nd Cir. (1)

Sterling Jewelers Inc. must arbitrate with a class of tens of thousands of female retail sales employees accusing the company of paying women less than men doing the same work based on sex, the Second Circuit ruled Nov. 18.

Sterling’s agreement gave the arbitrator hearing the matter the authority to decide whether it should proceed as a class arbitration, the appeals court said. In this case, the arbitrator said it should. The agreement expressly incorporates American Arbitration Association rules on class arbitration, which provide that an arbitrator should decide class arbitrability as a threshold issue, the court said.

Arbitrators ...