Arbitration agreements are very common in the Texas work force. Increasingly common is the onboarding process in which new employees sign everything online. That leads to issues. The arbitration agreement provision is very routine. Will the employer get around to signing every arbitration agreement? In Hi Tech Luxury Imports v. Morgan, No. No. 03-19-00021-CV
Arbitration has been sold as a more efficient, cheaper alternative to litigation. But, the reality is that it can be very expensive. And, unlike traditional courts, if you do not pay the arbitrator, the lawsuit stops. AAA, the leading provider of arbitral service, requires periodic deposits to cover anticipated future costs of the arbitration. Pres.
Arbitration is becoming more and more a significant feature of the legal landscape. Arbitration is a creature of contract. Whatever the parties agree to becomes the arbitration. What if the parties agree to arbitration, but then allow some form of appeal? In a recent decision, the Fourth Court of Appeals wrestled with that question. In
Many employers have started posting their employee polices online, and not in hard copy format. If so, they will run into the issue presented in Doe v. Columbia North Hills Hospital, 2017 WL 1089694 (Tex.App. Ft. Worth 3/23/2017). Jane Doe was sexually assaulted by a male co-worker. When she sued her former employer, it invoked
You have to love capitalism. I still believe the capitalistic system is the best around. But, the crazy things it can lead to. Everyone has heard about the Wells Fargo scandal. Bank tellers at Wells Fargo were required to open a certain amount of new accounts every month. The pressure was on to meet a
So, now Roger Ailes has invoked an arbitration clause in the lawsuit filed by Gretchen Carlson. I previously wrote about her lawsuit here. Of course, he would invoke arbitration. See Washington Post report. In arbitration, he can keep these unseemly allegations out of the press. Arbitration is private. Already, other women have come
The arbitration system is harmful to employees. ERISA is often harmful to employees. So, what happens when a case involves both arbitration and ERISA? Mucho harm to employees. That is the subject of a NPR report that address the ERISA law and worker’s compensation. See NPR report. As the report explains, Kevin Schiller was
Large employers and corporations have been pushing arbitration as the panacea for a host of consumer issues, from purchasing phone plans and automobiles to applying for jobs. But, there are some things arbitration just cannot do. In 2012, Lance Armstrong admitted he had used drugs as part of his training regimen. But, for years before
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a ruling addressing employment agreements with arbitration provisions. The agreement in this decision prevented an employee from filing a class action. See NLRB decision. The case concerned an agreement used by the homebuilder, D.R. Horton which provided that employees had to bring employment claims to an individual
Employee handbooks are not enforceable. They have not been enforceable since the early 1990’s. In the early 1990’s, after a few court decisions, Texas employers realized they had to include a disclaimer in each handbook stating that the 
handbook is not a contract. Employers wanted employe handbooks to not bind the employers. Much of what