Originally published on 29 October, 2002
We want to bring to your attention two recent developments concerning arbitration. First, a split panel for the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in EEOC v. Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps that an employer could lawfully require its applicants and employees to arbitrate Title VII employment discrimination claims as a condition of employment. Shortly after that, California Governor Gray Davis vetoed Senate Bill 1538, which sought to undermine recent court decisions that permitted employers to require employees and job applicants to sign pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate certain California statutory claims.
In Luce, Forward, legal secretary Donald Lagatree applied for a position with a law firm. The firm granted him a conditional offer of employment, but sent him an offer letter that included an arbitration provision requiring Lagatree to submit all "claims arising from or related to his employment" to binding arbitration. After
