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Three new Supreme Court cases
February 19, 2008 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
US Supreme Court will hear case on union's waiver of court forum for statutory claim.
14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett (Certiorari granted February 19, 2008) [Details, briefs]
When employees sued claiming age discrimination, the employer filed a motion to compel them to take the case to arbitration. The employees were covered by a collective bargaining agreement which prohibited age discrimination and also said "All such claims shall be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure [in the collective bargaining agreement] as the sole and exclusive remedy for violations." The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration, and the 2nd Circuit affirmed. The 2nd Circuit held that "arbitration provisions contained in a [collective bargaining agreement], which purport to waive employees' rights to a federal forum with respect to statutory claims, are unenforceable."
See discussion of this case at Daily Developments in EEO Law and at ADR Prof Blog: Supreme Court hears third arbitration case this term: 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett and at Workplace Prof Blog: Supreme Court Certs
US Supreme Court will hear case on union's use of agency fees for out-of-unit litigation.
Locke v. Karass (Certiorari granted February 19, 2008) [Details, briefs]
The Maine State Employees Association (MSEA) is the exclusive bargaining agent for certain state workers, and collects compulsory "agency fees" from non-members who are in the bargaining unit. Some of these fees are transferred to Service Employees International Union (SEIU), MSEA's national affiliate. MSEA included in its calculation of chargeable expenditures those costs of litigation (by both itself and SEIU) that was germane to collective bargaining. This meant that nonmembers contributed, through their service fees, to some litigation that was not undertaken specifically for their own bargaining unit, but rather was conducted by or on behalf of other units or the national affiliate, sometimes in other states. Included within this general category of expenditures were the salaries of SEIU's lawyers, and other costs of providing legal services to bargaining units throughout the country. Costs of litigation that was not related to collective bargaining, however, were not included in the service fees assessed to MSEA's nonmembers. The 1st Circuit held that MSEA may lawfully charge non-members for this "extra-unit litigation" so long as it is germane to the union's collective bargaining duties.
US Supreme Court will hear case on ERISA anti-alienation.
Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for Dupont Savings and Investment Plan (Certiorari granted February 19, 2008)
Decision below: 5th Cir 08/15/2007
William Kennedy's ERISA plan contained a no-alienation provision. William designated his wife Liv as the sole beneficiary. Upon their divorce, Liv agreed to be divested of all her rights. However, there was no Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). The 5th Circuit held that an ERISA Qualified Domestic Relations Order is the only valid way a divorcing spouse can waive her right to receive her ex-husband's pension benefits under ERISA.
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