Sonic-Calabasas A, Inc., Plaintiff and Appellant v. Frank Moreno, Defendant and Respondent

Summary

The court held that an employment arbitration agreement cannot require an employee to waive the statutory option of pursuing a Berman wage hearing before arbitration. The waiver is contrary to public policy and unconscionable because the statutory process provides important protections that reduce employees' costs and risks, and those protections are not replaced by arbitration alone. The court further held that this rule is not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act because it applies equally to arbitration and nonarbitration agreements and rests on generally applicable public-policy and unconscionability principles.