Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-16-40057/USCOURTS-ca5-16-40057-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
International Bank of Commerce
Appellant
Carlos Reyna
Appellee

Document Text:

REVISED OCTOBER 20, 2016

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-40057

CARLOS REYNA, individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

INTERNATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE, 

 Defendant - Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Southern District of Texas

Before KING, SMITH, and COSTA, Circuit Judges.

KING, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff–Appellee Carlos Reyna brought an action on his own behalf and 

on behalf of other similarly situated individuals against his former employer, 

Defendant–Appellant International Bank of Commerce, contending that IBC

violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay proper overtime rates. 

IBC moved to compel arbitration of Reyna’s claim, but the district court denied 

the motion, concluding that it could not consider the applicability of any

arbitration agreement until later in the certification process for a FLSA 

collective action. IBC now brings this interlocutory appeal, arguing that the 

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

October 4, 2016

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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No. 16-40057

2

district court erred in denying its motion to compel arbitration. For the 

following reasons we REVERSE the district court’s denial of the motion to 

compel arbitration and REMAND the case to the district court with 

instructions to refer the dispute to arbitration. 

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 31, 2015, Plaintiff–Appellee Carlos Reyna filed suit against 

Defendant–Appellant International Bank of Commerce (IBC) alleging that 

IBC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to properly pay

overtime to its bank teller employees. From July 2012 through August 2013, 

Reyna was employed as a bank teller by IBC. Reyna alleged that when he 

worked overtime, IBC only paid him “a rate of one-half times his regular rate,” 

rather than the “premium overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and onehalf times his regular rate of pay” required by the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. § 207(a) 

(requiring that employees receive “a rate not less than one and one-half times 

the regular rate at which [the employee] is employed” for overtime hours). He 

also sought to bring his suit as a collective action pursuant to the FLSA.1 See

29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Such collective actions under the FLSA usually proceed in 

two stages, a conditional certification stage and a final certification stage.2 7B

 

1 The FLSA permits an individual to bring a collective action “for and in behalf of 

himself . . . and other employees similarly situated.” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). A similarly situated 

employee may become a party plaintiff to the collective action only if “he gives his consent in 

writing to become such a party and such consent is filed in the court in which such action is 

brought.” Id. The FLSA grants courts “the requisite procedural authority” to facilitate the 

opt-in of potential plaintiffs into a collective action. Hoffman-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling, 493 

U.S. 165, 170–71 (1989). The court therefore oversees the joinder of additional parties to the 

collective action by issuing court-authorized notice to potential plaintiffs in order “to assure 

that the task is accomplished in an efficient and proper way.” Id. 

2 The first stage begins when the plaintiff moves for conditional certification of the 

collective action. Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless LLC, 553 F.3d 913, 915 n.2 (5th Cir. 2008).

The district court must “determine[] whether the putative [collective] members’ claims are 

sufficiently similar to merit sending notice of the action to possible members of the 

[collective].” Acevedo v. Allsup’s Convenience Stores, Inc., 600 F.3d 516, 519 (5th Cir. 2010). 

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Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice & Procedure § 1807 (3d ed. 2016). 

Reyna defined his proposed collective as:

All persons who are or have been employed by IBC as Bank Tellers, 

or other job titles performing similar job duties, who did not receive 

premium overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half 

times the regular rate of pay when they worked more than forty 

(40) hours in a week, at any time from three years prior to the filing 

of this Complaint and through the entry of final judgment . . . .

On November 13, 2015, IBC moved to dismiss Reyna’s complaint or, in 

the alternative, moved to compel arbitration, strike class claims, and stay or 

dismiss the proceeding. IBC argued that Reyna agreed to be bound by IBC’s 

Open Door Policy for Dispute Resolution (the Policy), which provides that the 

“exclusive remedy for challenging employment actions” is a four-step grievance 

process, culminating in binding arbitration. The Policy states that it applies

to “all disputes arising out of [the employee’s] relationship with IBC or any IBC 

Entity, including but not limited to . . . [c]laims regarding wages or other 

compensation due under the [FLSA] . . . including, . . . claims for non-payment 

or untimely payment of wages and overtime . . . .” The Policy does not mention 

FLSA collective actions but does provide that employees may bring class 

actions “only . . . upon the agreement of all the parties.” The Policy contains a 

delegation clause giving the arbitrator “the exclusive authority” to both

“determine the arbitrability of any dispute” and “resolve any dispute relating 

to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability or formation of the [Policy].” 

 

If it finds sufficient similarity, the district court conditionally certifies the collective and 

orders that notice be provided to potential opt-in plaintiffs. Id. The second stage of the 

collective action typically begins when the employer moves to decertify the collective, which 

usually occurs after discovery is complete. Sandoz, 553 F.3d at 915 n.2. The district court 

must then “make[] a final determination of whether all plaintiffs are sufficiently similarly 

situated to proceed together in a single action.” Acevedo, 600 F.3d at 519. “If so, the collective 

action may proceed, and if not, the court must dismiss the opt-in employees, leaving only the 

named plaintiff’s original claims.” Id.

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Finally, the Policy forecloses employees from seeking remedies for covered 

claims outside of the four-step grievance process, instructing: 

By continuing or beginning employment after the effective date [of 

the Policy], you are agreeing that this Policy shall be your exclusive

remedy for challenging employment actions and seeking redress 

for all claims covered by this Policy. In so agreeing, you are also 

waiving your right to seek any remedy for those claims covered by 

this Policy outside of the grievance and arbitration procedures 

established by this Policy.

In its motion, IBC contended that the suit should be dismissed because 

Reyna failed to exhaust the four-step grievance process provided for in the 

Policy or, alternatively, that the district court should compel arbitration of 

Reyna’s FLSA claim per the terms of the Policy. IBC also argued that any 

compelled arbitration must be done on an individual basis because both parties 

did not consent to bringing the claim as a collective action, as required under 

the Policy. Reyna opposed the motion, arguing that “[i]n collective action suits 

brought under the FLSA, courts rule on first-stage conditional certification and 

notice before ruling on the validity and enforceability of any purported 

arbitration agreement.” 

After converting IBC’s motion to a motion for summary judgment, the 

district court held a hearing on the motion on January 6, 2016. After hearing 

the parties’ arguments, the district court denied IBC’s motion. The district 

court agreed with Reyna that “at this stage [of the litigation] the only issue is 

whether the plaintiff is similarly situated to potential class members so that 

notice should be authorized.” The district court declined to address the merits 

of whether Reyna should be compelled to arbitrate his claim because the

question of whether the Policy requires arbitration is a “merits-based 

argument” that should not be addressed until “the second stage” of the FLSA 

collective action litigation. Based on the district court’s refusal to send the 

matter to arbitration, IBC timely filed its notice of interlocutory appeal 

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pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).3 Despite subsequent 

developments in the case,4 our review on appeal is limited to whether the 

district court erred in denying IBC’s motion to compel arbitration. 

II. ARBITRABILITY

IBC argues that the district court erred in denying its motion to compel 

Reyna to arbitrate his claim. “We review a district court’s denial of a motion 

to compel arbitration . . . de novo.” Auto Parts Mfg. Miss., Inc. v. King Constr. 

of Hous., L.L.C., 782 F.3d 186, 196 (5th Cir. 2015). We agree with IBC that, 

upon being presented with IBC’s motion to compel arbitration, the district 

court was required to address the arbitrability of Reyna’s claim at the outset 

of the proceedings, prior to considering conditional certification. We also 

conclude that the Policy required that Reyna’s claim be referred to arbitration 

for determination of arbitrability issues.

A. Arbitrability is a gateway issue

Reyna argues that district courts “consistently” conditionally certify a 

collective action before determining the arbitrability of a claim, but the cases 

he relies on have distinct procedural postures from that at issue here. In 

particular, he cites cases where (1) the district court declined to determine the 

validity of arbitration agreements with potential opt-in plaintiffs, not 

 

3 Under the FAA, “a party may seek interlocutory review of ‘an order . . . denying an 

application . . . to compel arbitration.’” Al Rushaid v. Nat’l Oilwell Varco, Inc., 757 F.3d 416, 

419 (5th Cir. 2014) (quoting 9 U.S.C. § 16(a)(1)(C)). On this interlocutory appeal we do not 

consider the district court’s denial of IBC’s motion for summary judgment. See Tamez v. City 

of San Marcos, 62 F.3d 123, 124 (5th Cir. 1995) (“Generally, this Court does not have 

jurisdiction over interlocutory appeals of the denial of motions for summary judgment 

because such pretrial orders are not ‘final decisions’ for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.”).

4 After IBC filed its notice of appeal, the district court granted Reyna’s motion to 

conditionally certify the proposed collective and issue notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs. 

IBC then moved to stay further proceedings in the district court pending appeal, which this 

court granted on September 1, 2016. At oral argument both Reyna and IBC stated that no 

notice had been sent to potential opt-in plaintiffs. Therefore Reyna remains the only named 

plaintiff in the suit. 

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arbitration agreements with the sole named plaintiff;5 (2) the named plaintiff 

was potentially covered by an arbitration agreement, but the defendant failed 

to move to compel that plaintiff to arbitrate his claim;6 (3) the court was not 

addressing a motion to compel arbitration;7 and (4) the district court had 

already compelled those named plaintiffs who had signed arbitration 

agreements to arbitrate their claims but nonetheless granted conditional 

certification of the collective because there existed at least one remaining 

plaintiff not subject to arbitration.8

None of the cases cited by Reyna presented the same posture as this case: 

a defendant who promptly moved to compel the sole plaintiff to arbitrate his 

claim, pursuant to an arbitration agreement that undisputedly exists. Those 

courts that have addressed cases with similar postures are in agreement that 

“whether the named plaintiffs must arbitrate their claims should be decided 

 

5 See Romero v. La Revise Assocs., L.L.C., 968 F. Supp. 2d 639, 645–48 (S.D.N.Y. 2013); 

Hernandez v. Immortal Rise, Inc., No. 11-CV-4360, 2012 WL 6720734, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 

27, 2012); Green v. Plantation of La., LLC, No. 2:10-0364, 2010 WL 5256348, at *1 & n.4 

(W.D. La. Dec. 15, 2010); Ali v. Sugarland Petroleum, No. 4:09-CV-0170, 2009 WL 5173508, 

at *4 (S.D. Tex. Dec. 22, 2009); Villatoro v. Kim Son Rest., L.P., 286 F. Supp. 2d 807, 811 (S.D. 

Tex. 2003). 6 See Davis v. NovaStar Mortg., Inc., 408 F. Supp. 2d 811, 818 (W.D. Mo. 2005) (“In 

the present matter, defendants have not moved to compel arbitration at all, although the case 

has been pending for over a year.”). 7 See Hernandez, 2012 WL 6720734, at *1 (denying defendants’ request to set aside an 

order granting plaintiffs’ motion for conditional certification); Krstic v. J.R. Contracting & 

Envtl. Consulting, No. 09-2459, 2011 WL 1042732, at *2 (D.N.J. Mar. 6, 2011) (“Defendants 

contend that this case should be dismissed in its entirety . . . because Plaintiffs signed 

arbitration agreements . . . .”); Mowdy v. Beneto Bulk Transp., No. C06-05682, 2008 WL 

901546, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2008) (“Now before this court is plaintiffs’ motion for 

approval of . . . notice and conditional certification of an FLSA opt-in class . . . .”).

8 See Bowman v. Doe Run Res. Corp., No. 4:13-CV-2519, 2014 WL 3579885, at *7 (E.D. 

Mo. July 21, 2014) (granting smelters’ motion for conditionally certifying a collective action 

after compelling several named smelters to arbitrate their claims); D’Antuono v. C & G of 

Groton, Inc., No. 3:11-cv-33, 2011 WL 5878045, at *2, *6 (D. Conn. Nov. 23, 2011) (granting 

the remaining representatives’ motion to conditionally certify after the other representatives 

were compelled to arbitrate their claims).

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well before the nationwide notification issue is reached.” Carter v. 

Countrywide Credit Indus., Inc., 189 F. Supp. 2d 606, 618 (N.D. Tex. 2002), 

dismissed on other grounds, 57 F. App’x 212 (5th Cir. 2003); see also, e.g., White 

v. Turner, No. H-15-1485, 2016 WL 1090107, at *3–6 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 21, 2016) 

(rejecting plaintiffs’ argument that the court should defer consideration of 

arbitration agreements until after the conditional certification stage); Dixon v. 

NBCUniversal Media, LLC, 947 F. Supp. 2d 390, 405–06 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) 

(denying the motion for conditional certification as moot because the only 

named plaintiff “ha[d] agreed to arbitrate her FLSA claims, and ha[d] waived 

the right to bring a collective action with regard to those claims”). We therefore 

disagree with Reyna’s argument that courts typically delay consideration of 

the arbitrability of a claim until after conditional certification is granted.

In addition, we have instructed that a district court must consider an 

agreement to arbitrate as a “threshold question.” Auto Parts, 782 F.3d at 196. 

To hold otherwise would present a justiciability issue: a court could 

conditionally certify a collective action solely on the basis of a claim that the 

plaintiff was bound to arbitrate and was therefore barred from bringing it in 

court in the first place. Cf. James v. City of Dallas, 254 F.3d 551, 563 (5th Cir. 

2001) (“If the litigant fails to establish standing, he or she may not seek relief 

on behalf of himself or herself or any other members of the class.” (citing 

O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 494 (1974)). Furthermore, deciding whether 

Reyna should be compelled to arbitrate his FLSA claim prior to conditional

certification more closely aligns with the “national policy favoring arbitration” 

embodied by the FAA. AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333, 346 

(2011) (quoting Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, 546 U.S. 440, 443 

(2006)); see also Carter v. Countrywide Credit Indus., Inc., 362 F.3d 294, 297 

(5th Cir. 2004) (“[T]here is a strong presumption in favor of arbitration . . . .”). 

Accordingly we have instructed that “a court is required to enforce a party’s 

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commitment to arbitrate his federal statutory claims.” Carter, 362 F.3d at 297. 

We conclude that the district court erred when it deferred deciding the 

“threshold question” of whether Reyna is required to arbitrate his claims until 

after the conditional certification stage. Auto Parts, 782 F.3d at 196. Upon a 

motion to compel arbitration, a court should address the arbitrability of the 

plaintiff’s claim at the outset of the litigation.

B. Only the arbitrator has the authority to decide issues of 

arbitrability

Having concluded that the district court was required to consider the

arbitrability of Reyna’s claim before conditionally certifying the collective, we 

now turn to the issue of who has authority to determine arbitrability. Because 

IBC contends that the Policy contains a delegation clause, we apply the 

framework outlined in Kubala v. Supreme Production Services, Inc. for 

analyzing arbitration agreements that contain a delegation clause. — F.3d 

— , —, 2016 WL 3923866, at *2 (5th Cir. July 20, 2016). Under this 

framework, if a party asserts that an arbitration agreement contains a 

delegation clause, this court only asks (1) whether the parties entered into a 

valid arbitration agreement and, if so, (2) whether the agreement contains a 

valid delegation clause. Id. “If there is a delegation clause, the motion to 

compel arbitration should be granted in almost all cases.” Id.

First, it is undisputed that Reyna and IBC entered into a valid 

arbitration agreement. Reyna has not denied signing the Policy nor has he 

raised any challenges to the validity of the Policy either before the district court 

or on appeal. And we have long recognized that FLSA claims are subject to 

arbitration. Carter, 362 F.3d at 298. Second, the arbitration agreement 

between IBC and Reyna contains a valid delegation clause. A delegation clause

is a provision in an arbitration agreement that “transfer[s] the power to decide 

threshold questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator.” Kubala, 2016 WL 

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3923866, at *1. The Supreme Court “ha[s] recognized that parties can agree 

to arbitrate ‘gateway’ questions of ‘arbitrability,’ such as whether the parties 

have agreed to arbitrate or whether their agreement covers a particular 

controversy.” Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson, 561 U.S. 63, 68–69 (2010). 

The delegation clause in the Policy provides: “The arbitrator(s) shall have the 

exclusive authority to determine the arbitrability of any dispute which the 

employee or the employer asserts is subject to the [Policy].” It also grants the 

arbitrator “the exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the 

interpretation, applicability, enforceability or formation of the [Policy].” This 

language is strikingly similar to the delegation clause in the arbitration 

agreement at issue in Rent-A-Center, which provided: “The Arbitrator, and not 

any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to 

resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability 

or formation of this [arbitration] Agreement . . . .” Id. at 66. In that case, the 

Supreme Court concluded that the clause clearly evinced an intent by the 

parties to delegate the authority to decide arbitrability issues to the arbitrator. 

Id. at 69–70. Similarly here the Policy contains a valid delegation clause that 

delegates the authority to resolve arbitrability disputes to the arbitrator. See

Kubala, 2016 WL 3923866, at *4 (relying on similarity between the language 

of the clause in Rent-A-Center and the clause at issue in that case to conclude 

that clause was a valid delegation clause). Because the arbitration agreement 

contains a delegation clause, any disputes about the arbitrability of Reyna’s 

claim or the scope of the arbitration agreement9 must be decided by the 

 

9 Reyna contends, for the first time on appeal, that the Policy does not apply to FLSA 

collective actions because it only explicitly mentions “class actions.” Because Reyna failed to 

raise this argument in the district court, we consider it waived. XL Specialty Ins. Co. v. 

Kiewit Offshore Servs., Ltd., 513 F.3d 146, 153 (5th Cir. 2008). But even were we to consider 

this argument, the Policy’s silence on the permissibility of collective actions does not counsel 

against compelling arbitration of Reyna’s claim because the Policy’s delegation clause 

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arbitrator, not the courts.10 Accordingly, the district court erred in denying 

IBC’s motion to compel arbitration.

III. CONCLUSION

We REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the 

case to the district court with instructions to refer the dispute to arbitration. 

The stay pending appeal issued by this court on September 1, 2016 is 

VACATED when this court’s mandate issues.

 

requires that any dispute over the scope of the Policy be determined by the arbitrator, not 

the courts. 10 For this reason we are foreclosed from considering IBC’s argument that the district 

court erred in denying the motion to compel arbitration because the arbitrator should have 

determined whether Reyna adequately participated in the Policy’s mandatory four-step 

grievance process. Under the delegation clause, questions of arbitrability are for the 

arbitrator alone. Our only basis for finding that the district court erred is the existence of 

the delegation clause.

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