Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corp.

After plaintiff filed class and collective actions against her former employer for wage and hour violations, the district court compelled arbitration pursuant to an agreement between the parties. The district court also struck as unlawful a waiver clause that appeared to forbid class or collective arbitration of plaintiff's claims. The arbitrator awarded more than $10 million in damages and fees to plaintiff and 174 similarly situated employees.The Seventh Circuit held that the availability of class or collective arbitration is a threshold question of arbitrability. Accordingly, the court remanded for the district court, rather than the arbitrator, to evaluate plaintiff's contract with her employer to determine whether it permitted class or collective arbitration. View "Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corp." on Justia Law