Supreme Court Rules Companies Can Require Workers to Accept Individual Arbitration

An ideologically divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that companies may require workers to settle employment disputes through individual arbitration rather than joining to press their complaints, a decision affecting as many as 25 million workers.

The court's conservative majority said that the 5-to-4 ruling was a logical reading of federal law, and Congress' preference for using arbitration to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation.

But the decision, involving a wage dispute, was roundly criticized on the left, and advocates said it could make it harder to press other workplace complaints such as discrimination and sexual harassment.

Read the full article.