A Step Too Far: Pyett And the Compelled Arbitration of Statutory Claims Under Union-Controlled Labor Contract Procedures

Over time, the Federal Courts have become increasingly supportive of and deferential to arbitration and mandatory arbitration clauses. Because arbitration under Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) were governed by different but analogous statutes, however, there were always rules carved out for CBA-related arbitration, specifically with regard to claims of discrimination based on statutes external to the CBA. However, as the mandatory arbitration of statutory claims became accepted under non-CBA agreements, the reasoning of this rule was undermined. In 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett, the Supreme Court abandoned this separation and adopted a rule that CBAs could mandate that statutory claims be arbitrated through the CBA’s arbitration process. This article discusses the history of this area of arbitration law, then discusses the Pyett case and the potential problems arising from its impact