Perry et al. v. Thomas (482 U.S. 483)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 15, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 482 U.S. 483 · 107 S. Ct. 2520
- Decided
- June 15, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. In this appeal we decide whether §2 of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U. S. C. §1 et seq., which mandates enforcement of arbitration agreements, pre-empts § 229 of the California Labor Codé, which provides that actions for the collection of wages may be maintained “without regard to the existence of any private agreement to arbitrate.” Cal. Lab. Code Ann. §229 (West 1971). I Appellee, Kenneth Morgan Thomas, brought this action m California Superior Court against his former employer, Kidder, Peabody & Co. (Kidder, Peabody), and two of its employees, appellants Barclay Perry and James Johnston. His complaint arose from a dispute over commissions on the sale of securities. Thomas alleged breach of contract, conversion, civil conspiracy to commit conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty, for which he sought compensatory and punitive damages. After Thomas refused to submit the dispute to arbitration, the defendants sought to stay further proceedings in the Superior Court. Perry and Johnston filed a petition in the Superior Court to compel arbitration; Kidder, Peabody invoked diversity jurisdiction and filed a similar petition in Federal District Court. Both petitions sought arbitration under the authority of §§2 and 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act. The demands for arbitration were based on a provision found in a Uniform…
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