With tomorrow’s oral argument before the California Supreme Court in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, our series of previews concludes with a look at the parties’ merits briefs. To read all the briefs in Iskanian, check out the National Chamber Litigation Center’s page on the case here.
The argument in plaintiff’s opening brief begins with a quotation from Armendariz: “California law, like federal law, favors enforcement of valid arbitration agreements.” Plaintiff describes Gentry as no more than a “limited qualification” to that proposition.
The plaintiff’s centerpiece argument boils down to three propositions: (1) arbitration clauses are solely about forum selection and do not affect any substantive rights under federal or state law; (2) the right to file a PAGA suit seeking recovery on behalf of the State and one’s fellow employees is a substantive right which cannot be waived; and (3) therefore, the FAA has nothing to say about the enforceability of the plaintiff’s agreement not to file a class or representative claim.
Plaintiff’s argument is based on a couple of dubious propositions: that whatever importance California state law places on an unrelated cause of action is relevant to FAA preemption, and that the right to bring a collective claim is somehow not only substantive (as opposed to procedural) but also unwaivable.
Like the plaintiff’s amici we considered here, the plaintiff relies heavily upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mitsubishi as supporting the “effective vindication” theory. The plaintiff argues that the theory is “fully applicable” to state-law rights, citing Armendariz and Little v. Auto Stiegler from the California Supreme Court, as well as Preston v. Ferrer – a case which enforced an arbitration agreement – from the United States Supreme Court.
According to plaintiff, the FAA merely requires that arbitration clauses – which are nothing more than specialized forum selection clauses – be enforced; it affects no substantive rights at all. Since the FAA does not require the waiver of any substantive rights, it cannot preempt state law protecting such rights. Since Concepcion does not disturb “the Supreme Court’s repeated holdings” that the FAA does not require enforcement of agreements preventing effective vindication of statutory rights, Concepcion has no impact on Gentry. Given that, plaintiff argues, the agreement’s ban on representative actions could not be enforced against him. Plaintiff acknowledges the Appellate Court’s view that he could pursue an individual PAGA claim, but insists that there is no such thing.
Plaintiff also argues that any ban on representative actions by employees violates federal labor law, relying heavily on the NLRB’s opinion in D.R. Horton. (Like the amicus briefs, the merits briefs were filed before the Fifth Circuit reversed in D.R. Horton.) Finally, plaintiff argues that the defendant’ s pursuit of the litigation between Gentry and Concepcion waived any right to arbitrate, both because “futility” is not a basis for opposing waiver under California law, and because a pre-Concepcion motion to compel arbitration wouldn’t have been futile even under federal law.
According to the appellee’s brief, the plaintiff’s brief rests on the “misguided premise” that the FAA treats waiver of representative claims in employment cases differently than it does such waivers in consumer cases.
The federal cases plaintiff cites for his claim that the effective vindication theory is well established at the federal level are “irrelevant,” the defendant argues – each involved a federalstatutory right, not a state statute. Not only that – those cases hold that an arbitration agreement can’t be invalidated on the grounds that arbitration would somehow be a less desirable forum, since that conclusion embodies the kind of judicial skepticism of arbitration that the FAA was intended to end.
Gentry is no longer good law, the defendant argues; its test “derives its meaning from the fact that an agreement to arbitrate is at issue,” and besides, there’s no principled distinction between Gentry and Discover Bank.
Nor did Iskanian’s decision to bring a PAGA claim impact the enforceability of the party’s arbitration agreement. First, PAGA is an unconstitutional delegation of governmental power; second, the plaintiff’s claim is time-barred; and third, the opportunity to bring a PAGA claim on behalf of the State and fellow employees is neither mandatory, nor a substantive right.
The defendant next turns to the labor law issue, attacking D.R. Horton on multiple grounds. The “unambiguous” Federal right to pursue class or collective action doesn’t exist, defendant argues. “Concerted” activity means being engaged with other employees; a class or representative action was thus “the antithesis” of concerted action. Although the NLRB’s interpretations of federal labor law are traditionally given deference in the courts, the defendant argues that the courts owed no deference at all to the NLRB’s interpretation of the FAA.
The defendant concludes by attacking the plaintiff’s waiver claim. Defendant litigated when it was forced to by Gentry and immediately moved to compel when Concepcion was handed down, according to the defendant; there was no conduct inconsistent with an intent to arbitrate. Besides, plaintiff could show no prejudice from the delay, since merely being required to litigate isn’t enough under California law.
The plaintiff replies that the defendant “misunderstands Mr. Iskanian’s argument.” Conducting a class action is not a substantive right, plaintiff argues, but “the availability of class actions is sometimes essential to the vindication of substantive rights.” Concepcion didn’t settle the issue, he claims, since if it did, “the Court’s decision to receive full briefing and argument” in Italian Colors “would be inexplicable.” According to the plaintiff, the defendant’s constitutional and statute of limitations challenges to the PAGA claims are not properly before the Court.
As for defendant’s remark that plaintiff remained free to bring an individual PAGA claim, plaintiff responds that “all PAGA claims are representative claims.” Even if the parties’ agreement permitted such an action, the plaintiff argues, it still bars “a substantial portion of the recovery PAGA authorizes” – penalties for the State or other employees.
The plaintiff closes its reply by again arguing that the agreement violates federal labor law, and that defendant has waived its right to arbitrate anyway. The plaintiff notes that even reversal of D.R. Horton by the Fifth Circuit (which has now happened) wouldn’t settle the labor law issue, since the losing party would seek Supreme Court review, and the NLRB doesn’t follow adverse opinions in cases not involving the same parties anyway.
Iskanian will be argued tomorrow morning at 9:00 A.M. West Coast time in the Third Floor Courtroom of the Ronald Reagan State Office Building, 300 South Spring Street, North Tower, Los Angeles.
Image courtesy of Flickr by Sam Howzit (no changes).