Did High Court Signal a Further Cutback of Worker Rights?

The Supreme Court’s decision to okay the use of mandatory arbitration and class action waivers in employment agreements signals a potential narrowing of workers’ labor rights. It follows years of a more expansive view employed by the National Labor Relations Board during the Obama administration.

Five U.S. Supreme Court justices signed off on limiting what constitutes protected concerted activity to actions that are “more directly involved with organizing and traditional bargaining,” John B. Lewis, who represents employers as a partner at Baker & Hostetler in Cleveland, told Bloomberg Law.

Prior to the Supreme Court’s May 21 ruling, the NLRB had ...