The Ninth Circuit recently enforced an arbitration clause in an employee handbook in connection with a civil rights dispute. Ashbey v. Archstone Property Management, No. 12-55912 (9th Cir. May 12, 2015) (click here for a copy of the decision).
The district court in this case had refused to compel arbitration. The district court found that the employee did not “knowingly” waive a right to a jury trial by signing an acknowledging form regarding receipt of an employee handbook, which contained an arbitration clause. In two prior cases, the Ninth Circuit had previously found no valid arbitration agreement when an employee had signed a generic acknowledgment form stating that the employee had received an employee handbook, which contained an arbitration clause. See Nelson v. Cyprus Bagdad Copper Corp., 119 F.3d 756 (9th Cir.1997); Kummetz v. Tech Mold, Inc., 152 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir.1998). However, the Ninth Circuit in Ashbey distinguished the generic acknowledgment forms in Nelson and Kummetz. The acknowledgement form in Ashbey specifically mentioned that the handbook contained a dispute resolution policy, but the acknowledgment forms in Nelson and Kummetz did not warn employees that the handbook contained an arbitration clause.
Because of the explicit notification in the acknowledgment form referencing the employer’s dispute resolution policy, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court and found that the employee had knowingly waived a right to a judicial forum.