In Hoover v. American Income Life Insurance Company, the Court of Appeals ruled that the defendant waived any right to arbitrate by actively litigating with the plaintiff for more than a year, which caused plaintiff prejudice.  The Court noted that defendant engaged in discovery, including depositions, and solicited class members to reduce the size of the class.  It noted that defendant repeatedly delayed and that as a result, the plaintiff was strongly affected and prejudiced by the delay, which among other things, caused significant legal expenses.  The Court also held that Plaintiff’s statutory wage claims under the Labor Code and the Business and Professions Code were not subject to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act; it ruled that the fact that plaintiff lived and worked in California and defendant was based in another state did not establish that their relationship had an effect or bearing on interstate commerce and thus there was no FAA preemption.  Without any preemption, California law made those claims not subject to any arbitration agreement.

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