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Appeals Court Again Throws Out Circuit City Arbitration
>According to a story in The Recorder, the decision in Circuit City Stores v. Adams , 02 C.D.O.S. 1043 comes after the US Supreme Court sent the case back to the 9 th Circuit with the high court’s ruling that Circuit City’s employment arbitration agreement met the requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The Supreme Court got the case after the 9 th Circuit’s first ruling in 1999 that Circuit City’s arbitration violated the FAA.
>The difference between the 1999 9
th
Circuit decision and its latest offering is that 9
th
Circuit judges based this week’s holding on California
state contract law and state court rulings
invalidating one-sided arbitration
agreements.
In reaching this week’s ruling, the
appeals court pointed a 2001 California Supreme Court case
in which state justices held that in order for a mandatory
arbitration agreement to be valid, some “modicum of
bilaterality” is required.
“Circuit City has devised an arbitration agreement
that functions as a thumb on Circuit City’s side of the
scale should an employment dispute ever arise between the
company and one of its employees,” wrote Senior Circuit
Judge Dorothy Nelson. “Because (plaintiff Saint Clair)
Adams was employed in California, we look to California
contract law to determine whether the agreement is
valid.”
The latest 9th Circuit decision is not
only a blow to Circuit City, but to many companies which
have increasingly turned to arbitration as a low-cost and
speedy way to resolve workplace disputes.
Case Background
In 1997, Adams filed suit against
Circuit City and three co-workers, alleging sexual
harassment, retaliation, constructive discharge and
intentional infliction of emotional distress under the
California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Since Adams had signed a contract when he was hired
agreeing to resolve any disputes through binding
arbitration, the court granted Circuit City’s petition to
force arbitration.
According to the 9th Circuit, this
agreement was lopsided and favored the employer. Besides
forcing employees to arbitrate while giving employers a
choice of venue to resolve disputes, the contract limits
the damages that employees can recover and forces employees
to pay half the cost of arbitration unless they win.
“Objectionable provisions pervade the
entire contract,” wrote Nelson.” Therefore, we find the
entire arbitration agreement unenforceable.”