WASHINGTON—On news today that the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Epic Systems Corporation, et al. v. Jacob Lewis, et al., holding that employers can force their workers into individual arbitration even though federal law guarantees workers the right to engage in collective action, Constitutional Accountability Center—which filed a friend of the court brief in support of the workers—released the following reaction from CAC President Elizabeth Wydra:

Last year, I said that “the conservative interest groups who lobbied and spent millions of dollars on the Gorsuch confirmation have tried to reduce the new Justice to something of a legal vending machine.” Justice Gorsuch’s opinion today in Epic has only validated that. Completely ignoring the text and history of the National Labor Relations Act to reach a pro-arbitration result is precisely the type of outcome the business community was counting on.

Justice Ginsburg, “explain[ing] why the Court’s decision is egregiously wrong,” once again demolished the Court’s persistent attack on the ability of ordinary Americans to access this country’s courts of justice—a value enshrined in our Constitution from the very beginning. Citing our brief in her masterful dissent, Ginsburg shows why Justice Gorsuch’s opinion for the Court’s five conservatives “paints an ahistorical picture,” ignoring the rich history of group litigation in America.

Make no mistake, working people in this country will be hurt by today’s ruling, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will surely consider this an early return on their investment in President Trump’s highest-profile judicial nomination.

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Resources:

CAC’s brief in Epic Systems Corporation, et al. v. Jacob Lewis, et al.: https://www.theusconstitution.org/litigation/epic-systems-corporation-et-al-v-jacob-lewis-et-al/ (cited on page 16 of Justice Ginsburg’s dissenting opinion.)

“The Supreme Court’s New Term,” David Gans, Balkinization, September 29, 2017: https://balkin.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-supreme-courts-new-term.html

Remarks of Elizabeth Wydra at CAC’s Fourth Annual Home Stretch at the Supreme Court, April 27, 2017: https://www.theusconstitution.org/events/fourth-annual-home-stretch-at-the-supreme-court/

“Corporate Clout: As The Roberts Court Transforms, The Chamber Has Another Big Term | October Term 2016,” Brian Frazelle, July 26, 2017: https://www.theusconstitution.org/think_tank/corporate-clout/

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Now in our tenth year, Constitutional Accountability Center is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history. Visit the new CAC website at www.theusconstitution.org.

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