Yesterday, in Rodriguez-Depena v. Parts Authority, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that wage-and-hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can be forced into binding arbitration under a pre-dispute arbitration agreement. The court rejected the argument that the FLSA guarantees workers access to the courts and thus overrides pre-dispute arbitration agreements, relying on the Supreme Court's pro-arbitration decisions in Gilmer and Italian Colors.
