SCOTUS Deals Devastating Blow to Class Actions

In yet another 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis that employers are allowed to force employees to sign contracts that restrict their right to sue collectively in federal court and instead force them into one-on-one arbitration with the company.

It is a devastating blow to workers and class actions for endemic workplace abuses.

The decision [pdf] was authored by Neil Gorsuch, of course. Ruth Bader Ginsburg authored the dissent.

As RBG notes in dissent, this decision tears a massive hole through post-New Deal labor law. It essentially substitutes the majority's economic preferences for those made by Congress. We will be reeling from this decision for years and decades to come. pic.twitter.com/PH1hyKhcDX

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) May 21, 2018

This erosion of workers' ability to organize into class action lawsuits against exploitative and/or harmful employers, combined with conservatives' decades of union-busting, is a horrendous blow to the collective power of workers.

Absolutely gutting.

This is a perfect and terrible example of why I nearly spun myself into dust during the last election trying to ensure Donald Trump was defeated, and why the only words I have at the moment are (again) these:

Fuck every single person who said or implied there was no difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 15, 2017

Elections matter. The differences between the Democrats and the Republican matter. HERE IS WHY.