Plaintiff brought a lawsuit and proposed collective action alleging that she and her co-workers were wrongly denied overtime pay pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that plaintiff had signed an arbitration agreement and the district court did not have jurisdiction over the matter. The district court granted the motion over plaintiff’s objection that defendant had waived its argument. The Seventh Circuit reversed, explaining that while defendant did not waive its arguments relating to the arbitration agreement the federal court nonetheless had jurisdiction because the arbitration agreement was governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. The Seventh Circuit left the question of whether the case could pursue as a collective action for another day. (BRENNAN and PRYOR, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Arbitration Agreement