Pearson Dental Supplies, Inc., Petitioner v. the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Respondent — Baxter, J…

Summary

Justice Baxter dissented from the majority's conclusion that a court may review and vacate an employment arbitration award for legal error when the arbitrator applied a time bar that allegedly foreclosed an age-discrimination claim. The dissent reasoned that, absent an agreement permitting review for legal error or a statutory right to a judicial forum, the arbitration statutes provide the exclusive grounds for review and do not permit correction of an arbitrator's erroneous reasoning. Justice Baxter concurred in the conclusion that the employee forfeited the challenge to the arbitration agreement's unconscionability. Justices Chin and Corrigan joined the dissent.