In Harris v. TAP Worldwide, LLC, the validity of an arbitration agreement appended to an employee handbook was at issue. Plaintiff received an employee handbook that conspicuously referenced an attached appendix dealing with the company’s arbitration policies, as well as a separate “Agreement to Arbitrate.”  Plaintiff argued that he was not required to submit to binding arbitration because he never signed the “Agreement to Arbitrate.” The Court held that Plaintiff’s acknowledgment in writing of the receipt of the agreement and the handbook provision that explicitly stated an employee is deemed to have consented to binding arbitration when they begin working was sufficient to force the Plaintiff to submit to arbitration.

The takeaway from this case is that future plaintiffs need to be aware of the difficulties they may face in seeking to challenge an arbitration agreement, with most courts favoring the enforcement of such agreements as respecting private parties’ right to contract, even if the agreements were not signed by both parties. Moreover, be aware of what you sign and what is in the handbooks you are given.

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