The Enforceability Of Arbitration Clauses In BC Employment Contracts

The BC Supreme Court recently considered the enforceability of arbitration clauses in employment contracts, as was addressed in Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc. et al, 2019 ONCA 1 ("Uber").

In A-Teck Appraisals Ltd. v Constandinou, 2020 BCSC 135 ("A-Teck"), the BC Supreme Court departed from the Ontario Court of Appeal's finding in Uber that an arbitration clause illegally contracts out of the Employment Standards Act ("ESA"). The A-Teck case involved a real estate appraiser who, after quitting his job, allegedly breached the non-solicitation and non-competition clauses in his employment contract. The parties' employment contract included an arbitration clause that excluded matters relating to non-solicitation and non-competition. As a result of this exclusion, the employer commenced a civil action for breach of contract, after which the employee filed a counterclaim for wrongful dismissal.   The employer brought an application to stay the employee's counterclaim