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According to a Florida appellate court, when an employment contract containing an arbitration agreement expires, so does the agreement to arbitrate, even if the employee continues to work on an at-will basis.
In Silverman Wender Koonin Epstein Garcia Rosencwaig, P.A. v. Dennis, No. 3D06-985, 2006 WL 2683646, (Fla. App. 3 Dist., Sep 20, 2006), Dennis, a doctor employed to perform hand surgeries under a two-year contract, continued working on an at-will basis after the contract expired. He later sued for remuneration for work allegedly performed.
Silverman filed a motion to compel arbitration and stay litigation, asserting that because “the parties continued to govern themselves according to the agreement’s terms after it expired,” the agreement to arbitrate still controlled. The Court disagreed, finding that, during the years of employment after the contract expired, “no contract existed between the parties which would obligate them to arbitrate a dispute.”
Arbitration terms usually survive contract expiration. Here, it appears that the court viewed the continued employment as occurring pursuant to an oral agreement rather than as a continuation of the contract containing the written agreement to arbitrate. See Sanz v. R.T. Aerospace Corp., 650 So.2d 1057, 1060 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (refusing to enforce non-compete language after contract expiration and oral agreement to continue the employment relationship). And without a written agreement, the obligation to arbitrate is unenforceable under both the Federal Arbitration Act and Florida Arbitration Code.
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