The Supreme Court of Texas recently strengthened immeasurably an employer’s ability to secure mandatory arbitration from existing employees. In In re Halliburton Company and Brown & Root Energy Services, Relators,[1]� the court held that an employer – promulgated arbitration program is valid and enforceable as against existing “at-will” employees as long as such employees were notified of the program and voluntarily continued their employment following the date on which the program took effect. Notably, the court did not require the employee’s signed assent on any policy or document. Further, the court apparently concluded that to the extent the enforceability of the arbitration program turned on consideration, such consideration was contained in the mutuality of the promises by both parties to the agreement to arbitrate their employment-related disputes. The company’s agreement to arbitrate disputes against the employee, then, is consideration sufficient to support the employee’s waiver of his statutory procedural right to a judicial forum. New York courts have determined some of the surrounding legal issues on this topic, but the New York Court of Appeals has yet to speak on precisely whether an unsigned, arbitration clause promulgated after the inception of employment is enforceable against an at-will employee on the basis of continued employment standing alone.
Factual Background
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
