The United States Supreme Court recognized that Jackson’s arbitration agreement required him to arbitrate his claims and delegated to the arbitrator exclusive authority to resolve challenges to the agreement’s enforceability. The Court held that, where an employee challenges the validity of the specific provision the employer seeks to enforce, such questions remain the province of courts. In contrast, where an employee challenges the validity of the entire arbitration agreement (”as a whole”), the dispute remains subject to any delegation provision and must be decided by the arbitrator. Here, because Jackson challenged the arbitration agreement generally (and not the delegation provision specifically) as unconscionable, the issue of enforceability fell within the arbitrator’s exclusive authority to resolve.

Employers using arbitration agreements would be well advised to review such agreements and consider revisions, if necessary, to take advantage of the Court’s recognition that, in appropriate circumstances, delegation provisions are enforceable.