Arbitration

Thirty-five years after deciding that arbitration clauses in employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) were unenforceable, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the last circuit to approve the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in ERISA benefit plans.  In this decision, Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp, the court decided that an ERISA plan could limit participants to the use of individual arbitration as the sole forum for resolving certain benefits claims.
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Since the 1991 Supreme Court case, Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., 500 U.S. 20, the Supreme Court has steadily broadened the use of the arbitration in the employment context.
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Because of the widespread use of arbitration clauses in employment and consumer agreements, Congress seeks to rein in their use.  The most ire was brought on by the use of these agreements to prevent employees and consumers from bringing class action lawsuits.  To address these concerns, the U.S. Rep.
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