AB 51 (Stats. 2019 ch. 711) enacted Lab. Code 432.6 which prohibits employers from requiring employees to agree to arbitration as a condition of employment, and states that it is a condition of employment if the employer requires the employee to opt out or take any affirmative step to avoid agreeing to arbitration. Over a strong dissent, the majority opinion holds that the statute is not preempted by the FAA since it merely prohibits forcing employees to agree unwillingly to arbitration. The FAA preempts state laws that invalidate or deny enforcement of agreements to arbitrate but the FAA does not reach statutes regulating pre-agreement conduct. However, AB 51’s enforcement mechanisms (Lab. Code 430 and Gov. Code 12953) which make violation of section 432.6 a misdemeanor and subject to administrative sanction by the DFEH and private suit under FEHA are preempted by the FAA since those sanctions are imposed on the employer for entering into an arbitration agreement and thus conflict with the FAA. An arbitration agreement cannot be valid and enforceable under the FAA yet subject to criminal sanction under state law.