Continued Employment Amounts To Consent For Arbitration Agreement

On August 18, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that an employee's continued employment was sufficient to manifest assent to the terms of an arbitration agreement, and reinstated the trial court's order to compel arbitration over New Jersey Law Against Discrimination claims. However, the employer in that case, Pfizer, took key precautions in its language and follow-up communications that the Court noted led to its opinion. The Supreme Court made clear that the language of the specific arbitration agreement at issue, plus the additional communications sent out by the company about the arbitration agreement, made the continued employment sufficient assent to the arbitration agreement. It was undisputed that the LAD claim fell squarely within the list of types of claims included within the arbitration agreement.