SAN FRANCISCO – A security guard who works for the San Francisco Giants won the right from the California Supreme Court Thursday to have a pay dispute decided under state labor law rather than mandatory arbitration.
The state high court in San Francisco unanimously ruled that security guard George Melendez could pursue his claim of a violation of the state Labor Code in San Francisco Superior Court.
The panel rejected the Giants’ argument that the case was governed by federal law and the guards’ union contract, which requires arbitration of disputes.
Justice Ming Chin wrote, “It is up to state courts, not an arbitrator, to interpret state labor law standards applicable to all workers.