The Upside-Down Treatment of Religious Exceptions Cases in the Supreme Court

MICHAEL C. DORF

Cornell law professor Michael C. Dorf comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to reject an emergency application from the State of Alabama to lift a stay on the execution of Willie B. Smith III. Professor Dorf observes the Court’s unusual alignment of votes in the decision and argues that, particularly as reflected by the recent COVID-19 decisions, the liberal and conservative Justices have essentially swapped places from the seminal 1990 case Employment Division v. Smith, which established that the First Amendment does not guarantee a right to exceptions from neutral laws of general applicability.

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DiCarlo v. MoneyLion, Inc.

Docket: 20-55058

Opinion Date: February 19, 2021

Judge: Amul R. Thapar

Areas of Law: Arbitration & Mediation

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order compelling arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act and dismissing a putative class action brought by plaintiff against MoneyLion, operator of a smartphone app offering financial services to its customers. Plaintiff alleged that MoneyLion violated California's Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act when it refused to allow her to cancel her membership after she fell behind on her fees, deposits, and loan payments. The panel concluded that the district court correctly determined that the arbitration provision at issue was valid and enforceable because it allowed public injunctive relief and did not violate the McGill rule under California law. The panel explained that in California, litigants proceeding in individual lawsuits may request public injunctive relief without becoming private attorneys general. In this case, the arbitration agreement authorized the arbitrator to award all injunctive remedies available in an individual lawsuit under California law.