Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court held in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis that employers can require employees to agree to arbitrate disputes between them solely on an individual basis and to waive class and collective action litigation procedures without running afoul of federal law.  (See our post here).   Addressing an issue not explicitly discussed in Epic, the Kentucky Supreme Court recently held in Northern Kentucky Area Development District v. Snyder that where employment is conditioned on the employee agreeing to arbitrate claims – that is, agreeing to arbitrate is a requirement to getting (or keeping) a job – that requirement violates Kentucky state law.  This ruling makes Kentucky the first state in the country to prohibit mandatory employee arbitration agreements, and will have, at least for now, a direct and immediate impact on employers throughout the state.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/post-epic-systems-kentucky-supreme-court-holds-under-state-law-employers-cannot