Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit handed down a significant ruling in the continuing conflict over the ability of employers to require employees to arbitrate employment disputes and to waive the right to class arbitration.  In a long-awaited – and, in many circles, expected – decision, the Court overturned the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act by forcing employees to submit employment disputes to individual arbitration.  The Court’s decision may pave the way for employers to enforce class arbitration waivers without fear of NLRB enforcement action….at least not anytime soon.

EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS

Vance v. Ball State University: Narrow Definition of Supervisor in Harassment Suits
In Vance, the Supreme Court announced a narrow standard for determining which employees constitute “supervisors” for purposes of establishing vicarious liability under Title VII. In a 5-4 decision, the Court decided that a supervisor is a person authorized to take “tangible employment actions,” such as hiring, firing, promoting, demoting or reassigning employees to significantly different responsibilities. The majority opinion rejected the EEOC’s ...