Rent-A-Center, Inc. v. Iowa Civil Rights Commission

MANSFIELD, Justice.

In this case, we must decide whether the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) can pursue an enforcement action under the Iowa Civil Rights Act against an employer when the complaining employee signed an agreement with the employer to arbitrate all employment-related claims. The ICRC accepted the administrative law judge’s finding that the agreement did not limit the ICRC’s rights because the ICRC was not a party to the agreement. On judicial review, the district court disagreed. It found the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempted state law and remanded the matter to the…