Appeals court agrees that businesses can negate class action arbitration by employees

In a 2-1 decision issued Tuesday, December 3, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Fort Worth, Texas-based homebuilder D.R. Horton and declared that the National Labor Relations Board was in violation of the federal law when it tried to hinder the former from making employees sign employee contracts agreeing not to file a class action lawsuit against the company.

Horton started requiring new and existing workers in 2006 to sign a contract saying they are waiving their rights to trial by jury in case of a job-related dispute and are agreeing to settle cases through arbitration.

Michael Cuda and other Horton employees in 2008 filed a complaint with the NLRB, saying that their employer wrongly classified them as exempt employees, that they were denied overtime pay, and that the class action waiver violated the National Labor Relations Act. In 2012, the NLRB ruled that the class action waivers were a violation of the deferral labor law.

The case was monitored by attorneys, headhunter and human resource organizations, and major Texas-based corporations, such as AT&T (telecommunications), J.C. Penney (upscale department stores), and RadioShack (electronic retail stores).

If your rights as an employee have been violated by your employer, get the skilled, experienced, and compassionate attorneys of The Melton Law Firm, to help you. We are dedicated to helping any Austin residents who have been treated unfairly by their employers, so call us today at 512-330-0017 to further discuss your situation and what legal action may be available to you.