Patterson v. Raymours Furniture Company, Inc.

Case Updates

The judgment of the district court is affirmed. The Second Circuit held that it is bound by its decision in Sutherland v. Ernst & Young LLP to require the enforcement of collective action waivers.

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit in favor of affirming a district court’s decision that correctly held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) requires enforcement of voluntary agreements to arbitrate on an individual basis. The brief explains that Supreme Court precedent under Imburgia and Concepcion requires that employee agreements to arbitrate disputes with their employer on an individual basis are valid and enforceable. The Chamber’s brief argues that there are only two exceptions to the FAA’s mandate: (1) when the FAA’s “savings clause” applies, or (2) when another federal statute evinces a “contrary congressional command” that displaces the FAA; neither of these exceptions applies here. Additionally, the brief explains that a reversal of the district court’s decision would frustrate the will of Congress and eliminate the benefits that arbitration offers to employees, businesses, and the economy.

This case is part of a series of cases in which parties, including the National Labor Relations Board (“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 National Labor Relations Act.

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.