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Class Action Arbitration Cannot Be Compelled Without an Express Agreement

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April 24, 2019

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In Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, the U.S. Supreme Court recently stated that arbitration agreements must state an express agreement to arbitrate class claims between the parties; otherwise, claims brought on a class basis can be compelled to individual arbitration. There, an employee sued Lamps Plus for leaking private tax information that led to someone filing a fraudulent tax return under the name of the employee. Lamps Plus sought to compel arbitration of the employee’s claims; however, because the arbitration agreement was ambiguous about class claims, the lower courts allowed the employee’s class claims to proceed in arbitration.

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