A Pennsylvania doctor alleging retaliation and wrongful termination against her former employer must have her claims heard by an arbitrator because the strong public policy favoring enforcement of arbitration agreements outweighs any public interest in hearing the disposition of the case, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

A unanimous three-judge panel held June 30 that Leslie Saltzman's potential recovery against Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals would not be minimized by the arbitration process, and that her claims fall under the broadly worded arbitration agreement she signed with the organization. The decision reversed a ruling from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and remanded the case.

Saltzman signed an employment contract with an arbitration clause upon being hired by Jefferson in August 2014, Judge H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr. wrote for the court in Saltzman v. Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals. Later that year, she reported alleged wrongdoing to her employer after learning that the company was presenting a chiropractor as a licensed doctor without proper credentials, and she was fired within a month.