February 17, 2021
The Federal Arbitration Act sets forth a national policy favoring arbitration. Through the enactment of Section 7515 of the NY CPLR, however, New York sought to exempt certain types of claims from arbitration, including claims alleging sexual misconduct under the New York State Human Rights Law. In this article, “The Federal Arbitration Act Precludes New York from Exempting Claims from Arbitration,” we discuss Southern District Judge Lewis J. Liman’s recent decision in Gilbert v. Indeed, Inc., concluding that Section 7515 is preempted by the FAA, and thus cannot be used to exempt from arbitration claims that otherwise would be arbitrable under the FAA.