Employer Didn’t Want To Arbitrate
Usually employees want their day in court, and employers try to arbitrate, but our next case presents “the unique situation where . . . the employer refuses to arbitrate, arguing the employee waived her contractual rights to arbitrate.” The Court of Appeal had no difficulty satisfying itself that “substantial evidence supports the court’s finding of waiver.” Nelson v. Service Corporation International, Case No. D061861 (4th Dist. Div. 1 July 29, 2013) (Huffman, Acting P.J., author 3:0)(unpublished).
Because the undisputed facts did not compel only one inference on the record, the Court applied a substantial evidence standard of review. The fact that plaintiff litigated over three years in various actions before demanding arbitration, and that discovery included some 60 depositions, 1,000 interrogatories and 740 answers to discovery, provided substantial evidence of waiver. Class claims were litigated in multiple courts, including one appeal. It also did not help plaintiff that her “arbitration demand coincided with Respondents’ effort to decertify the conditional class.”