“Private Employment Arbitration Agreement Not Binding on Secretary of Labor When Bringing an Enforcement Action on Behalf of One Party to Agreement Against the Other”

Benjamin Stearns of Carlton Fields has this article in JD Supra, discussing the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Walsh v. Arizona Logistics, Inc. As the article explains, “[t]he Department of Labor brought an enforcement action against Arizona Logistics Inc. for alleged violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping, and anti-retaliation requirements resulting from the alleged misclassification of delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. Arizona Logistics moved to compel arbitration under its agreements with the drivers…” The Ninth Circuit refused to compel arbitration, holding that the Department of Labor was “master of [his] own case,” and not subject to the arbitration requirement.