August 8/San Francisco: Forced Arbitration Today: Where Workers Stand

In the year after the Supreme Court’s decision in the consumer class action case, Concepcion v. AT&T Mobility, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), courts around the country have erected new barriers to employees seeking to vindicate their rights under worker protection laws. While the rulings have not sounded the death knell for class actions, they have generally made it more difficult for employees to have their day in court and shine a light on corporate misconduct. Meanwhile, several rulings have also limited the reach of Concepcion in the employment context including the National Labor Relations Board’s landmark decision in D.R. Horton, Inc. and California state court decisions, like Brown v. Ralphs, 197 Cal. App. 4th 489 (2011).
As the Arbitration Fairness Act continues to inch its way through Congress, join us for a brown bag discussion of the current state of employee rights in the arbitration context, what advocates can do to keep the courthouse doors open for workers, and explore legal strategy for fighting forced arbitration.
The Access to Justice series will focus attention on ways to ensure that our justice system is truly available to all.  Programs in the series will highlight barriers to access to our civil justice system, including efforts to strip courts of jurisdiction, raise procedural hurdles, remove classes of cases from federal court, insulate wrongdoers from suit, limit remedies and deprive legal aid services of resources.
Title:
Forced Arbitration Today: Where Workers Stand
When/Where:
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
12:30pm - 2:00pm
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP (29th Floor)
275 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA
By:

• The Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society
• Alliance for Justice
• California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
• The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy
• The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center
• Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson P.C.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
• National Employment Lawyers Association
•  Public Justic.

Featuring:

• Leslie A. Bailey, Staff Attorney, Public Justice
• Cliff Palefsky, Partner, McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky
• Cynthia L. Rice, Director, Litigation Advocacy & Training, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
• Moderator: Rebecca M. Hamburg Cappy, Program Director, National Employment Lawyers Association.

Credit:
ACS is a State Bar of California MCLE Provider and is offering 1.5 MCLE hours for this event.
The American Constitution Society thanks Epiq Systems for their generous support of this event.
More:
http://www.acslaw.org/ForcedArbitrations