Press Release

Washington, DC — Breaking with over 80 years of labor law, the U.S. Supreme Court today issued a 5-4 decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, Ernst & Young v. Morris, and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil, allowing corporations to force workers into arbitration, stripping them of the right to bring class actions for labor law violations. American Association for Justice (AAJ) CEO Linda Lipsen made the following statement after the ruling was announced:

“The Supreme Court’s decision is a devastating blow to the fundamental rights of workers as more and more corporations move to silence harassed, abused, and mistreated employees by forcing them into arbitration. From employee handbooks to credit card and nursing home contracts, people across the country are having their constitutional rights taken away by powerful corporations.

“Congress needs to take action to restore the rights of all Americans to seek justice when corporations break the law, rather than continue to allow corporations to exploit workers and consumers by hiding behind secretive arbitration.”

In August 2017, AAJ filed an amicus curiae brief in Epic Systems v. Lewis, Ernst & Young v. Morris, and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) v. Murphy Oil strongly urging the Court to uphold the NLRB’s determination that corporate employers cannot use abusive forced arbitration clauses to prohibit employees from joining together to pursue civil rights- and work-related claims.

Click here to download AAJ's brief.