Employees Not Required to Arbitrate Employment Claims (Alonso v. Huron Valley Ambulance Inc., 6th Cir.)
In a decision "not recommended for full text publication," the Sixth Circuit struck down provisions in an employment application that required prospective employees to waive their rights to a judicial forum for employment-related claims and to agree to shorten the statute of limitations for all employment disputes to six months. According to the Court, the employees had not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived their right to a judicial forum because when the employees signed the waivers "they had no idea" of what the grievance process they were agreeing to entailed.
The waiver to a judicial forum, which was part of a 4-page employment application, stated:
Any dispute arising out of or in connection with any aspect of my employment by the Company, or termination thereof, including by way of example but not limitation, disputes concerning alleged civil rights violations, breach of contract or tort, shall be exclusively subject to review by the Grievance Review Board. Any decision of the Review Board shall be binding to both parties, and enforceable in the circuit court.
The statute of limitations waiver read:
I further recognize that if employed by the company, I agree, in partial consideration for my employment, that I shall not commence any action or other legal proceeding relating to my employment or the termination thereof more than six months after the termination of such employment and agree to waive any statute of limitations to the contrary.
Upon finding that the employees did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waiver their rights to bring employment-related claims in a judicial forum, the Court held that the statute of limitations waivers were similarly invalid.
Alonso v. Huron Valley Ambulance, Inc., No. 09-1812 (6th Cir., Apr. 26, 2010).
For more information about enforceable employee arbitration agreements in Virginia or the District of Columbia, contact Searcy Law Offices at 703-644-4122.
