Judge Blocks Forced Arbitration in Fish House Case | New Bedford News

New Bedford News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 14, 2026 · 2m

A federal judge just rejected a fish house company’s bid to force former workers into arbitration over claims of workplace extortion, ruling that the workers didn’t knowingly sign away their right to sue. The plaintiffs allege a former manager demanded weekly payments and charged for van rides, while the companies say they offered multilingual documents and time to review — but workers say they were pressured into signing without understanding the terms. The judge denied the motion without prejudice, giving the companies until Friday to file a status report and propose a new arbitration…