Supreme Court Postpones Hearing Class Action Waiver Cases

This post is part of OnLabor’s continuing analysis of National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA.

As reported by Law360, the Supreme Court has informed the parties in Murphy Oil, Ernst & Young, and Epic Systems that the Court will postpone oral argument until next term, which begins in October 2017.  The Court granted certiorari in January.  Law360 points out that Judge Neil Gorsuch will likely be confirmed to the Court by this fall, assuming that Senate Democrats do not decline to confirm his nomination.  Some followers of the Court believed the justices would be evenly split on the enforceability of class action waivers in employment contracts, and Gorsuch could provide the tie-breaking vote.  A separate Law360 piece analyzing Gorsuch’s previous arbitration agreement and class action decisions suggested that “employers may have reason to be optimistic” in Murphy Oil with Gorsuch on the Court.