Haynes Building Services, LLC v. NLRB

Case Updates

The petitioner's motion to hold case in abeyance was granted, pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285 (cert. granted, Jan. 13, 2017); Ernst & Young v. Morris, No. 16-300 (cert. granted, Jan. 13, 2017); and NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., No. 16-307 (cert. granted, Jan. 13, 2017).

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to reject the National Labor Relation Board’s (“NLRB”) D.R. Horton rule, which interprets the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) to prohibit agreements between employers and employees to arbitrate disputes on an individual basis. The Chamber argued that the rule is precluded by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) because the act requires that agreements to arbitrate disputes on an individual basis be enforced according to their terms and neither of the exceptions to the FAA’s mandate applies here. In addition, the brief explained that rejecting the rule will benefit employers, businesses, and the national economy, as arbitration is faster, easier, and less expensive than litigation.

This case is part of a series of cases in which parties, including the NLRB as a party or amicus, continue to press the NLRB’s position, first announced in the D.R. Horton matter and rejected by virtually every court to consider it, that agreements between employers and employees to arbitrate disputes on an individual basis violate the NLRA.

Andrew J. Pincus, Evan M. Tager, Archis A. Parasharami and Matthew A. Waring of Mayer Brown LLP served as counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.