Web Exclusive: Top 13 Employment Law Stories From October 2019

It's hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month was no exception.

In fact, there were so many significant developments taking place during the past month that we were once again forced to expand our monthly summary well beyond the typical "Top 10" list. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest changes, here is a quick review of the Top 13 stories from last month that all employers need to know about:

New California Law Prohibits Most Mandatory Arbitration AgreementsFor Now - Despite his predecessor vetoing two similar proposals, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on October 10 that will prohibit employers from entering into mandatory arbitration agreements for nearly all types of employment law claims in California. The new law could have significant impacts on California employers across all industries - if it ever goes into effect. There are significant questions around whether the new statute is invalid. We could see it scaled back or completely tossed out before ever being enforced based on an argument that it is preempted by federal law. Legal challenges are inevitable, and will likely require years of litigation before a final resolution. In the meantime, what do California employers need to know about this development? ( read more here) Pendulum To Swing Back As SCOTUS Prepares For Exciting 2019-2020 Term - Taking a three-year look back at the Supreme Court's workplace law decisions gives you the sense that the exciting cases only come down every other year. In the ho-hum term that ended in 2017, the Court handled relatively low-impact cases, but the docket heated up in the term ending in June 2018 when the Court issued rulings in blockbuster cases. Last term's decisions returned to the mind-numbing variety, for the most part. This history can only mean that we have exciting things in store for the coming 2019-2020 term, which kicked off on October 7. A sneak peek at the early docket confirms that you can expect to see fireworks over the next nine months, as the Supreme Court has loaded its term with interesting and impactful cases ( read more here). Supreme Court Hears Arguments To Determine LGBT Workplace Bias Issues For The First Time - On the second day of the Supreme Court's 2019 term, three consolidated cases were...