A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked a California law that prohibited employers from requiring their workers to resolve legal disputes in private arbitration, Reuters reported. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco in a 2-1 decision held that the law cannot be enforced because it conflicts with a federal arbitration law. The ruling handed a victory to business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which had sued the state. California was the first state to ban mandatory arbitration of all employment-related disputes in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The 9th Circuit panel in 2021 upheld the law 2-1, but later agreed to reconsider the decision. One of the three judges switched sides for Wednesday's order, which revived a ruling by a lower court against the law.
