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Hawaii Employment Law Decisions September 4, 2016 to September 10, 2017 – Jeffrey S. Harris

District court erred by deciding whether drivers' arbitration agreements were enforceable, because that question was clearly delegated to the arbitrator.  Court venue provisions for actions to enforce arbitration agreements and obtain other remedies did not make the arbitration agreements ambiguous.  The drivers' right to opt out of the agreements prevented them from being procedurally unconscionable. The company's agreement to pay for the arbitration precluded the drivers from showing the arbitration agreement prevented effective vindication of their claims.  Claims under the California Private Attorney General Act were exempted.  Mohamed v. Uber Technologies, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16413 (9th Cir. Sept. 7, 2016).

Court of Appeals denied petition for rehearing en banc of decision U.S. Department of Labor was not precluded from issuing regulation restricting employers from requiring restaurant servers to share their tips with kitchen staff.  Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association v. Perez, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16361 (9th Cir. Sept. 6, 2016).

Note: We analyze cases to learn rules the courts will follow or disappoint us if they don't. Rules that the courts follow allow us to behave and provide explanations they accept. But competent advocates may limit the rules to the facts of the case where they are discussed, or expand rules by showing that differences in other cases are irrelevant.