USC Asks Justices to Hear Retirement Plan Arbitration Case

The University of Southern California asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a lawsuit challenging how it managed its workers’ retirement savings should go to arbitration or stay in court.

The dispute belongs in arbitration because the workers who filed suit signed employment agreements promising to arbitrate “all claims” they may have against the university, USC said in its Nov. 29 petition. This promise extends to claims involving the school’s retirement plans and brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the school said.

The decision USC is appealing—which rejected the school’s bid to force arbitration—marked the first ...