In Hawkins v. Cintas Corp., No. 21-3156, __ F.4th __, 2022 WL 1236954 (6th Cir. Apr. 27, 2022), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that an arbitration clause contained in certain individual employment agreements may be insufficient to compel arbitration of putative class action claims asserted under ERISA § 502(a)(2). The Sixth Circuit reasoned, in a matter of first impression at the Circuit level, that Section 502(a)(2) claims generally “belong” to the ERISA Plan, not its individual participants, and may not be forced into arbitration absent plan consent.

In Hawkins, two former Cintas Corporation employees filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio alleging that the company, its board of directors and its investment committee violated ERISA § 502(a)(2) by breaching their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence in managing the company’s retirement plan.

Both of the named plaintiffs previously entered into multiple employment agreements with Cintas each of which contained provisions that (1) obligated the named plaintiffs to arbitrate “claims arising out of or in any way related to [their] employment with [Cintas], such as rights or claims arising under … [ERISA],” and (2) precluded the named plaintiffs from asserting “class action or representative claims” and barred them from seeking “to represent the interests of any other person.” Hawkins, 2022 WL 1236954, at *2. Relying on these contracts, Cintas moved to compel...

Read Full Story: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/sixth-circuit-rejects-arbitration-certai...