NJ Appellate Court-General Language in Employee Handbook Insufficient to Compel Arbitration of Discrimination Claims
The NJ appellate court held that the arbitration clause contained in an employee manual and acknowledgment form was insufficient to compel the plaintiff to submit his discrimination claim to binding arbitration because it was too general to put the employee on notice that he or she was giving up his or her rights to a trial by jury. . The language in question advised that “all formal employment disputes will be resolved by final and binding arbitration as set forth in the Employee Manual.” Employers seeking to have arbitration of employment claims need to make sure that the mechanism they choose is enforceable in their jurisdiction. The lesson is that attempts to require arbitration of substantial rights such as discrimination will be strictly construed by the courts against waiver.
Read the entire ruling here.