SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court took its first stab Thursday at reconciling a landmark 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on compulsory arbitration with California law. The result was a wide-ranging 70-page decision culminating in a lengthy point-counterpoint between Justices Goodwin Liu and Ming Chin.
Liu held for a 5-2 majority that, under AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, an agreement to arbitrate employment disputes may preempt a special California Labor Commission hearing for employees seeking unpaid wages. But, he concluded, the employee’s surrender of that procedure is one of the factors a court should consider first when deciding whether the arbitration clause is unconscionable.
