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LJN NewslettersNewsSectionsThe Corporate Counselor

Pre-Employment ADR Waivers

BY Robert G. Brody
July 29, 2010

Alan Alonso and his wife applied for jobs with Huron Valley Ambulance Incorporated, were hired, and used the company's alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) program on multiple occasions. But when the results of the last step of the ADR program did not go Alan's way, he sued in court. The Michigan Eastern District Court found that the ADR program was binding, but the Sixth Circuit found these well-educated employees did not knowingly waive their right to sue in court ' and therefore denied enforcement of the company's alternative dispute resolution system. In light of this decision, general counsel for companies with ADR programs should ask themselves if their waiver needs to be knowingly executed and what steps should be taken to ensure it is binding. This article addresses these issues.

Alonso v. Huron Valley Ambulance Incorporated

In Alonso v. Huron Valley Ambulance Incorporated, (No. 09-1812, 6th Cir., 2010), Alonso signed an employment agreement/application during his brief interview. In part, it provided that all employment-related disputes would be exclusively subject to the Company's internal Grievance Review Board (“GRB”) which was a binding arbitration system not subject to any court proceeding. It also limited the statute of limitations to six months. No explanation of how the GRB operated was offered until a month after Alonso was hired. At that time, he signed a document saying he would familiarize himself with the program, but his post-hire assent to the program was not obtained. The terms of the underlying ADR program itself were not unique or troubling to the courts.

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