California Court Upholds Class Action and PAGA Waivers in Arbitration Agreement

In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, a California appellate court applied the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the FAA in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion to affirm a trial court’s order granting a motion to compel individual arbitration of the plaintiff-employee’s wage and hour claims, dismiss the plaintiff’s class action claims, and preclude the plaintiff from pursuing claims under California’s Private Attorney General Act other than the plaintiff’s own individual PAGA claims. In so holding, the court concluded that the California Supreme Court’s decisions in Gentry v. Superior Court, Broughton v. Cigna Healthplans, and Cruz v. PacifiCare Health Systems were all effectively overruled by Concepcion.