Facts

William Lujan was a former employee of Century Fast Foods Inc. at one of its Taco Bell restaurants. He signed an employment application that contained an Agreement to Arbitrate provision. Lujan brought a class action complaint against Century alleging wage-and-hour and other violations under California law. Century successfully moved to compel arbitration. The administrative law judge found that Century violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act by maintaining and enforcing the agreement that required employees, as a condition of employment, to waive their rights to pursue class actions. Century challenged the judge's findings.

CLAIMANT'S CONTENTIONS:
On April 24, 2015, Administrative Law Judge Ariel L. Sotolongo issued a ruling applying the Board's decisions in D. R. Horton, 357 NLRB No. 184 (2012), that the respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act. The Board found that respondent violated the Act by maintaining and enforcing an agreement to arbitrate that required employees, as a condition of their employment, to waive their rights to pursue class or collective actions involving employment-related claims.

RESPONDENT'S CONTENTIONS:
Century contended that the agreement to abide by the arbitration provision was not a required condition of employment and the caselaw relied upon by the judge was wrongly decided.

Result

The National Labor Relations Board affirmed the judge's findings and conclusions.