Agreement To Arbitrate An Employment Contracts Was Upheld and Enforced
In the employment law and business litigation case of Wells v. Volkswagen of America, 25-3-5144, (Law. Div. Bergen Cy.), plaintiff asserts allegations against her former employer, including violations of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, common-law torts, including fraud and defamation, and claims that sound in contract and quasi-contract. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint and compel arbitration, asserting the parties have an agreement to arbitrate, and plaintiff’s allegations fall within its scope. Plaintiff argued the agreement to arbitrate was unconscionable, or the product of fraud, because it was included among other forms and plaintiff did not understand the agreement because of her limited legal knowledge. Plaintiff’s argument was belied by her admission that she read the agreement to arbitrate and understood it required employment disputes to be resolved in the arbitration forum before she signed it. Plaintiff’s contention was that she did not appreciate the breadth of the agreement to arbitrate. Plaintiff did not demonstrate that defendant was under any legal obligation to advise plaintiff about the legal impact of the documents she was given in the employment application. Plaintiff provided no legal authority or persuasive argument for a finding of fraud. In the absence of fraud, plaintiff’s unilateral mistake with regard to the terms of the agreement to arbitrate cannot serve as a basis to reform the contract. Plaintiff presented no evidence that defendant denied her the opportunity to review the forms, prevented her from consulting a friend, colleague or lawyer to review the forms, conditioned employment upon her completion of the forms, conditioned employment upon her completion of the forms, or that plaintiff requested any relief from the terms of the agreement to arbitrate. Plaintiff made no showing that the public policy underlying the claims asserted against defendant will be undermined if plaintiff’s case was decided in the arbitration forum rather than in the Superior Court. This court found there was an agreement to arbitrate and its scope included the claims asserted in plaintiff’s complaint. The agreement to arbitrate, even if a contract of adhesion, is not unenforceable. Defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint and compel arbitration was granted.
Reference: Case & Analysis, New Jersey Law Journal, 217N.J.L.J.793 (September 8, 2014)
Filed Under: Business Litigation, Commercial Litigation; Employment Law; Agreement to Arbitrate
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