WASHINGTON — In a victory for California employers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday placed limits on a state labor law that authorizes private lawsuits on behalf of groups of workers, even if they had agreed to resolve their disputes through individual arbitration.
The majority ruled the Federal Arbitration Act preempts or overrides the state law.
California is the only state to authorize such private suits as a means of enforcing its labor laws, the justices said. But by doing so, the state allows employees to escape the binding arbitration agreements they signed when they were hired, the court said.
