Karl Bayer and I were discussing the latest bill tracking report for the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009. This act would ban mandatory pre-dispute arbitration in employment, consumer, and franchise contracts. (House version: H.R. 1020 and Status; Senate version: S. 931 and Status). The House version of the bill has been very active, now with 99 co-sponsors (the list is here). Karl wonders if Senator Franken’s amendment and related press had anything to do with the bill having this unusual number of new co-sponsors. Any thoughts? Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, legislation, Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009
Continue reading...The Supreme Court of Texas held that an agreement to arbitrate discrimination claims between an employee and a staffing agency hired by the employer survives the dissolution of the contract between the staffing agency and employer. In the present case, In re Polymerica, __S.W.3d __ (Tex. 2009) (No. 08-1064), Polymerica, L.L.C. d.b.a Global Enterprises, Inc. (“Global”), a manufacture of plastics, hired Angelica Soltero in 1998. In 2002, Global contracted with dmDickason Staff Leasing Company (“Dickason”) to manage the company’s human resources department. Shortly thereafter, Soltero signed a Dispute Resolution Plan, which “appl[ies] to any disputes between dmDickason/Global Enterprises and any applicant for employment, employee or former employee, including legal claims such as discrimination, wrongful discharge or harassment.” The Plan calls for binding arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. On December 31, 2005, Global ended its contract with Dickason and resumed the management of its human resources department. Global terminated Soltero five days later. Then, Soltero sued Global claiming wrongful termination based on her national origin as well as retaliation for reporting alleged sexual harassment. The trial court denied Global’s motion to compel arbitration concluding that all of Soltero’s claims arose from the wrongful termination after the agreement between Global and Dickason had ended. Global appealed. The Texas Supreme Court, distinguishing In re Neutral Posture, Inc., 135 S.W.3d 725, 730 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2003, no pet.), stated that “[t]here is no such time limitation in the Dispute Resolution Plan, nor there is a condition that the Global and Dickason relationship must be in place for either to enforce the Plan.” The court concluded that Soltero’s promise to arbitrate includes her claims against Global and directed the trial court to compel arbitration. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, Texas Supreme Court
Continue reading...As previously discussed, today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for Bilski v. Kappos, a high-stakes software patent case (the transcript is here). In Bilski, the Federal Circuit rejected patent claims involving a method of hedging risks in commodities trading. The U.S. Supreme Court is now asked to decide whether the Patent Act contemplates the patentability of business methods –which include software patents. Links to the case documents can be found at the SCOTUS wiki (here) and a comprehensive commentary of today’s arguments by Gene Quinn at the IP Watchdog is here. Technorati Tags: law, intellectual property, software patents, business methods, Bilski
Continue reading...Hays County, Texas just launched a voluntary mediation program for family and civil disputes. The Hays County commissioners signed a contract with the Central Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution (CTADR), a local ADR firm that will provide the mediation services. The mediation program is effective from October 1, 2009 until September 30, 2010 and applies to disputes between neighbors, employers and employees, consumers and merchants, landlords and tenants, among others. Judges may refer cases to mediation as well. Find out more: County Contracts with ADR Firm, Newstreamz, Oct. 8, 2009. Hays Mediation Option Begins OperationToday, San Marcos Daily Record, Oct. 1, 2009. County Aims for Dispute Resolution System, Newstreamz, Sept. 8, 2009. Technorati Tags: ADR, law, mediation
Continue reading...Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.
Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.