Wage Law

The Supreme Court has set a date to hear arguments in Gentry v. Superior Court, to determine whether its holding Discover Bank makes it substantively unconscionable to impose a class action ban upon employees whose wage and hour claims might sometimes be large enough to pursue individually. The arguments will be heard on Tuesday, June 5, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. in the Supreme Court's Los Angeles venue. The issue on appeal in Gentry reads as follows:

Petition for review after the Court of Appeal denied a petition for peremptory writ of mandate. This case presents issues regarding the enforceability of an arbitration provision that prohibits employee class actions in litigation concerning alleged violations of California's wage and hour laws.

There are currently at least four companion cases: S148581 Dunn v. Superior Court (Kroger Co.), S141677 People v. Vasquez, S141753 Jones v. Citigroup, and S150386 Firchow v. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. The case we thought might become a fifth companion case, In re Cingular Cases, was never presented to the Supreme Court for review (two requests for publication were denied.)

The list of amici is long and distinguished. We haven't heard yet who will actually argue the case. The scheduling of argument in Gentry assures that there will be at least two blockbuster cases discussed at your 2007 wage and hour year-in-review MCLE classes.