Sweet Vindication: The Second Circuit Strikes a Blow to Companies that Use Class-Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements to Avoid the Law

Other scholars and courts have concluded that when a class action waiver prevents a plaintiff from vindicating his statutory rights, that waiver should be unenforceable. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit took this approach in In re American Express Merchants\u27 Litigation. The court, however, was careful to point out that these class-action waivers should not be considered unenforceable per se, but that courts must examine each waiver on a case-by-case basis. This note will examine the court\u27s reasoning and will discuss what courts and Congress should do to protect consumers when companies use class-action waivers to avoid liability when they break the law