Case Tests Validity of Class Action Waiver in Arbitration
Nearly two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court in Green Tree Financial Corporation v. Bazzle held that an arbitrator can certify a class when an arbitration agreement is silent or ambiguous on that issue. Green Tree, 539 U.S. 444 (2003). In so doing, the Supreme Court reversed a long line of federal courts' decisions that had generally ruled that plaintiffs cannot proceed as a class under agreements that are silent on the availability of class actions, unless both parties consent to such procedures. See, e.g., Champ v. Siegel Trading Co., 55 F.3d 269 (7th Cir. 1995).
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