• 03
  • November
    2011

Three California employees of a fashion retailer and the retailer itself will be heading to arbitration following a decision by a Court of Appeal in a labor dispute case.

The Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported that three workers with wage and hour claims against the fashion retailer Forever 21 will now have to go to arbitration after the Court of Appeal ordered a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to reverse his order denying the retailer's motion for arbitration.

In making its decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Superior Court judge had no legal basis to deny Forever 21's request for an arbitration hearing in the case.

The three employees sued Forever 21 in December of 2010, claiming that the retailer owed them both regular and overtime wages thanks to the company's failure to keep accurate records.

This move was not what the three employees sought. Part of the reason: As the Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports, all parties involved in the case shall split the fees and costs of arbitration. This includes the arbitrator's fee.

In making his original ruling, the Superior Court judge argued that Forever 21 would not suffer from either going to arbitration, as the company prefers, or resolving the dispute in court.

Suing a company is never an easy task. And the three employees in this case now face an uphill battle. It's clear that they did not want to go to arbitration.

This does not mean, though, that Forever 21 will "win" in arbitration. It just means that the three employees will not be able to resolve this case in the forum of their choice.

Source: Metropolitan News-Enterprise, "C.A. Rules Employment Claims Against Retailer Should Be Arbitrated," Oct. 21, 2011