It’s not like we didn’t tell you so, cuz we did! Just last year, we predicted that the latest assault on employer arbitration rights had the potential to destroy arbitration everywhere in the country. Is Arbitration Becoming “Just Somebody That We Used to Know”? Well, it’s happening, and the most recent salvo (not surprisingly) comes from the Golden State.

On Monday, a California appellate court decided that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “EFAA”) precluded arbitration of a case (or any part of it) in which the plaintiff claimed sexual harassment and sexual assault – even though the other claims she asserted did not even remotely relate to the alleged sexual harassment or assault. Doe v. Second St. Corp., 2024 WL 4350420 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 30, 2024).

Doe filed the lawsuit against her former employer (The Huntley Hotel) and two of her former supervisors, alleging sexual harassment/assault and discrimination that occurred both before and after the EFAA’s effective date. The court first held that the EFAA applies to “continuing violations” that occur at least in part after the statute’s effective date of March 3, 2022. Next and perhaps most stunningly, the court concluded that the EFAA barred arbitration not only of the sexual harassment and assault claims, but also of every other claim plaintiff had alleged, including a variety of California wage and hour claims that had nothing whatsoever to do with sexual harassment or...

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