AT&T Mobility's Impact on Employers' Arbitration Agreements

On April 27, 2011, in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. ___, 2011 U.S. LEXIS 3367 (2011), the Supreme Court held in a 5–4 decision that the class action waiver in a consumer arbitration agreement was enforceable, even though the state law expressly held such waivers to be illegal in consumer agreements of this type. The Concepcions, a California couple, had attempted to bring a class action against AT&T in federal district court in 2006 after they were charged $30 apiece for cell phones the company purportedly had advertised as "free."