4 ms·

>Nurses, housekeepers, and lab techs crammed into a conference room where hospital administrators presented a form and told them to sign. Signing meant agreeing

• pattisapu 10y ago
  In some jurisdictions, yes. In others, no. I've tried to make such arguments on behalf of terminated employees in federal district courts in the Fifth Circuit, but have not been successful to date. But some courts have held that a demand to arbitrate or be fired, and then firing the employee for refusing to sign, is unlawful retaliation when there is a pending claim. See, e.g., Goldsmith v. Bagby Elevator Co., 513 F.3d 1261, 1267-1268 (11th Cir. Ala. 2008): The main issue in this appeal is whether Bagby Elevator Company was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law against Greg Goldsmith's claim of retaliation when it is undisputed that Goldsmith's employment was terminated based on his refusal to sign a dispute resolution agreement that applied to his charge of racial discrimination pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Bagby Elevator appeals a jury verdict that awarded compensatory and punitive damages to Goldsmith based on his complaint of both racial discrimination and retaliation. See 42 U.S.C. § 1981; 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000e-17. In Weeks v. Harden Manufacturing [1268] Corp., 291 F.3d 1307 (11th Cir. 2002), we ruled that a refusal to sign an arbitration agreement was not a protected activity that could support a claim of retaliation, but we did not address an employee's refusal to sign an agreement that applied to a pending charge of discrimination. Goldsmith was willing to execute an amended dispute resolution agreement that would not have applied to his pending charge, but Bagby Elevator insisted that Goldsmith sign an agreement that applied to the pending charge and fired him immediately after he refused to do so. We conclude that Bagby Elevator was not entitled to a judgment as a matter of law against Goldsmith's claim of retaliation because there was sufficient evidence of a causal relation between the filing of his pending charge and later termination. As a result, we need not decide any issue about the verdict regarding Goldsmith's alternative claim that he was terminated based on his race.
• emodendroket 10y ago
  > Can you sue for wrongful termination if you get fired for refusing to sign such a waiver? It seems unlikely, because the Supreme Court has ruled it's permissible for employers to compel employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment.
  • spc476 10y ago
    How did the Supreme Court reason that? It seems to be a violation of Amendment 7.
    • emodendroket 10y ago
      The case is Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams but it doesn't really turn on constitutional issues like that from what I can tell. I suppose the reasoning is you're both equal parties and you can just turn down the employment if you don't like the provision (this argument is a ridiculous fiction since you need to work to live but whatever). I mean honestly I think this is ideologically motivated just like the rash of decisions that have practically made it impossible to file a class action lawsuit by letting companies require their customers to use arbitration.
      • awssailin 10y ago
        It sucks I agree, but, companies are not obligated to hire people or to not fire them because people need to eat or else a company could be forced, legally, to hire far more than they need or can afford. This would drive them out of business and all their employees would be on the street.
        • emodendroket 10y ago
          Whether that's correct or not it's beside the point of what I'm saying. What I mean to say is that the premise that an employee and and an employer are two equals entering into an agreement on equal footing is divorced from reality. That's the reason a minimum wage law and so on is needed in the first place.