DST Output has instituted an arbitration program that affects putative class members of two of the class actions against DST Output. The affected employees are Software Developers, Senior Software Developers, Software Engineers, Senior Software Engineers, Software Quality Analysts and Senior Software Quality Analysts. DST's arbitration policy states that an employee "may not assert claims on behalf of multiple Associates or as a class action" and would similarly bar participation in a class action asserted on their behalf.

In connection with this newly adopted arbitration policy, DST sent a communication to putative class members of the overtime classes. The Plaintiff for one of those class actions disputed the communication stating it was misleading. In particular, one of the issues is that DST is claiming that the "class action lawsuits alleg[e] that various software related jobs should be hourly/non-exempt rather than salary/exempt. The Plaintiff contends that the "lawsuit makes no such claim. In fact, the lawsuit states that the positions were non-exempt but paid on a salary. Thus, there is no claim that any of the positions need to be paid on an hourly basis. The only claim is that overtime be properly paid for, which can certainly be obtained if the employees are paid a salary. The issue here is that the salary paid by DST OUPUT was far below the minimum level required by Cal. Lab. Code § 515.5." A copy of the filing by the Plaintiff can be found here.

DST Output counters that their communication was fair because they "informed [the employees] at least six times that they had the right to opt out of the arbitration program." In addition, DST contends that "DST Output did not want putative class members to make a decision on whether to agree to the arbitration program without knowledge of the pending class action lawsuit." A copy of DST's defensive explanations for the communication can be found here.

The arbitration agreement may significantly affect the rights of DST employees covered by it. Any employee has a right to contact an attorney of his or her choosing to receive legal advice about what course of action is best for them. Naturally, I can not offer legal advice on this website, but if any person (whether or not an employee of DST Output) has questions relating to arbitration agreements and how they affect employment cases, they can contact me.

For additional information on arbitration agreements in general, the following blog provides a view that arbitration agreements almost always benefit the employer.