Courts, Rather Than Arbitrators, Should Decide Availability of Classwide Arbitration, 3rd Cir. Rules

PHILADELPHIA — In a precedential decision, the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that courts, rather than arbitrators, should decide the issue of availability of classwide arbitration, explaining that the question is not procedural, but rather “a substantive gateway dispute.”

On July 30, the appellate court found that due to the differences between classwide and individual arbitration and the consequences of proceeding with one rather than the other, the availability of classwide arbitration is a substantive “question of arbitrability” to be decided by a court absent clear agreement otherwise.

Two former employees of Robert Half International Inc. and …