The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a ruling that a 10-page letter to Gulfstream Aerospace sent to its employees that placed limits on employees' rights to sue the company is an enforceable contract.

On July 15, 2005, Gulfstream Aerospace sent the letter to all of the employees at its Savannah, Ga. facility. The letter required workers to take any complaints to arbitration rather than sue the company. Employees were not required to sign the letter but were required to accept its terms if they wanted to keep working for the company. In addition to mailing the letters, Gulfstream also posted the notices on 13 bulletin boards throughout the Savannah facility.

The letter stated that, “The DRP (dispute resolution policy) will become the exclusive procedure to resolve covered workplace disputes–so you should carefully read the enclosed brochure. This policy, which will become effective on August 1, 2002, will be a condition of continued employment. All covered claims will be subject to this DRP at that time.”

In 2002, 200 Gulfstream employees filed suit claiming that the company violated federal labor laws. Gulfstream argued the court should dismiss the suit because the employees gave up their rights to sue when they continued to work after receiving the letter. The court agreed with Aerospace, ruling the employees must go to arbitration.