A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Feb. 15 that AB51, California’s law barring mandatory arbitration in employment agreements, was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The decision in Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta (No. 20-15291 D.C. No. 2:19-cv-02456- KJM-DB) cheered business owners, but it greatly distressed worker advocates.

Once a relatively rare practice, today more than 60 million workers are subject to mandatory arbitration. The Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy predict that by 2024, almost 83% of the country’s private, nonunionized employees will be subject to mandatory arbitration, an increase of 56% since 2017.