Employee Agreed to Arbitration by Signing Form Acknowledging Receipt of Arbitration Rules

The District of Georgia enforced an employment arbitration agreement where an employee attended a meeting on the employer’s arbitration program and later signed a form acknowledging receipt of the arbitration rules.

In Attenborough v. Dillard’s Department Store, No. 1:06-CV-0291-TWT, 2006 WL 1663299 (D. Ga. June 9, 2006), Attenborough sued Dillard’s, her former employer, for alleged discrimination. Dillard’s moved to compel arbitration based on an acknowledgment form that Attenborough signed after attending a meeting about Dillard’s new arbitration program.

The Court held that “a valid contract to arbitrate existed between the parties” and ordered arbitration. Sufficient consideration existed for the arbitration agreement because both Attenborough and Dillard’s were required to arbitrate.

Lastly, the Court noted that Attenborough had not presented any evidence indicating that the arbitration agreement was procedurally unconscionable. The Court also found that the agreement was not substantively unconscionable because Attenborough “ha[d] not alleged that she was fraudulently induced into signing the contract or that she was delusional or insane at the time she signed it.”