U.S. top court backs companies over worker class-action claims

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to the rights of workers on Monday by allowing companies to require them to sign away their ability to bring class-action claims against management, agreements already in place for about 25 million employees.

The justices, in a 5-4 ruling with the court's conservatives in the majority, endorsed the legality of the growing practice by companies to compel workers to sign arbitration agreements waiving their right to bring class-action claims on various disputes, primarily over wages and hours.

The ruling could apply more broadly to discrimination claims but the court did not explicitly address that issue.

Growing numbers of employers have demanded that their workers sign waivers, guarding against the rising number of class-action claims brought by workers on wage issues. Class-action litigation can result in large damages awards by juries and is harder for businesses to fight than cases brought by individual plaintiffs.

Republican President Donald Trump's administration last year reversed the government's stance in the case, siding with the companies after Democratic former President Barack Obama's administration had supported a U.S. National Labor Relations Board decision invalidating such employment agreements.