Employee Assented to Arbitration Agreement by Signing Acknowledgment Form and Initialing Arbitration Policy

The Ohio Court of Appeals enforced an arbitration agreement in an employee handbook because the employee assented to the agreement by signing an acknowledgment form and writing her initials next to the arbitration policy.

In Corl v. Thomas & King, No. 05AP-1128, 2006 WL 1629740 (Ohio Ct. App. June 13, 2006), Corl worked for Applebee’s, first as a server and later as assistant manager. During manager orientation, Corl was given a copy of Applebee’s manager handbook, which contained various policies including a four-step dispute resolution program (“DRP”) that culminated in binding arbitration.

At the orientation, Corl signed an acknowledgment form indicating that she read and understood the policies contained in the handbook. The acknowledgment form listed and described the handbook policies, and Corl wrote her initials next to each policy, including the DRP.

While closing one night, Corl was attacked by a former employee who was robbing the restaurant. When Applebee’s denied Corl’s subsequent request for a nightly police escort, she sued. The trial court granted Applebee’s motion to stay the proceedings pending arbitration.

On appeal, Corl argued that she never assented to the arbitration agreement. The Court rejected this argument because Corl’s “act of initialing the DRP and signing the [acknowledgment] form [wa]s sufficient to demonstrate she read and understood its terms and specifically agreed to binding arbitration as the sole and exclusive method of resolving employment disputes.”

The Court also rejected Corl’s argument that there was no consideration for the arbitration agreement because “[n]o consideration is required above and beyond” a mutual agreement to arbitrate. Applebee’s retention of Corl also served as consideration.