Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
I believe my employment contract requires one to go through 'arbitration' should a dispute arise. I was discriminated at work, filed a complaint with HR and then later was terminated. Does this force one to follow Arbitration even after separating from the company later in life? In my case, I secured an offer at same firm a year later but the company rescinded it. I understand that to remedy the discrimination where I was terminated requires me to adopt arbitration, but does it also force me to use arbitration process for the later incident (when I was not even an employee of the firm) and offer was rescinded?
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
When you showed your contract to an attorney in your unnamed state and asked him or her these questions, what did they say?
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
One would have to review the terms of your employment contract to give a definitive answer.
Depending on how it is worded, you might have to arbitrate a claim arising out of the rescission of your most recent job offer from the company.
But equally depending on how it is worded, the arbitration agreement might not apply to that kind of claim or to a claim arising out of the circumstances you describe.
Have a lawyer look at your contract and advise you.
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
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sad786
I believe my employment contract requires one to go through 'arbitration' should a dispute arise.
Why do you have the word "arbitration" in quotation marks? Why do you say that you "believe" this to be the case (as opposed to saying, "My employment contract requires. . . .")?
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sad786
I was discriminated at work
How so?
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sad786
filed a complaint with HR and then later was terminated.
I take it you believe the termination was in retaliation for making the complaint. Correct? If so, what evidence do you have that this was retaliatory.
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sad786
Does this force one to follow Arbitration even after separating from the company later in life?
Since no one here has read your employment contract, it is impossible to answer this question intelligently (and, in fact, we don't even know whether you actually had an enforceable employment contract). However, if we assume it requires arbitration, the answer is likely yes.
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sad786
I secured an offer at same firm a year later but the company rescinded it.
So...a year after you were fired, the company extended, but then rescinded, an offer to hire you back. Correct? What was the reason for the rescission?
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sad786
I understand that to remedy the discrimination where I was terminated requires me to adopt arbitration, but does it also force me to use arbitration process for the later incident (when I was not even an employee of the firm) and offer was rescinded?
Since you didn't tell us anything about the (alleged) reason for the rescission, it's difficult to comment intelligently, but we obviously haven't read your employment contract, so we have no way of knowing its scope.
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
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sad786
I was discriminated at work, filed a complaint with HR and then later was terminated. Does this force one to follow Arbitration even after separating from the company later in life?
Once you were terminated your contract became toilet paper.
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
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budwad
Once you were terminated your contract became toilet paper.
You can't say that without seeing and understanding the contract. Well, you can but there is a better than even chance you would be wrong.
Plenty of employment contracts have clauses that survive termination.
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
I apologize for not being clear, I am not as intelligent (I am mildly retarded, so no egos I carry, please continue to be brutally honest). I appreciate your replies and hope I can find some answers as this has been hurting my head.
1. All
I have not seen my employment contract either, but my attorney (whom I trust and she has been very kind to me) did and she indicated that I must go through arbitration. But she also said my case is very strong, even though she cant guarantee but that my burden of proof is not high as I fear it to be, so she was confident of an easy win. Having said that, my case was dismissed in arbitration to her big shock and she has asked me to move on. So this may be now an exercise at consolation, or who knows I might have some recourse left, like filing with EEOC for this particular incident (which I had not included in my original EEOC charge - as it had not happened by then. By the way my original eeoc charge was also dismissed with a right to sue) and that was the reason I commenced with arbitration, and since by that time the offer rescension had also happened so my attorney had included the event in the arbitration proceedings.
2. Why do you have the word "arbitration" in quotation marks? Why do you say that you "believe" this to be the case (as opposed to saying, "My employment contract requires. . . .")?
Sorry that is just my way of saying it. Language is not perfect, so I daily struggle with how to communicate effectively
3. How so? were you discriminated.
I was laughed at, joked at, bullied you can say ...
4. I take it you believe the termination was in retaliation for making the complaint. Correct? If so, what evidence do you have that this was retaliatory.
I dont have direct evidence, it is inferential, as series of incidents happened, adverse performance appraisals, adverse references given to jobs that I tried to secure.
5. So...a year after you were fired, the company extended, but then rescinded, an offer to hire you back. Correct? What was the reason for the rescission?
My employer gave me a bad performance before termination, which I was not aware of. During arbitration, they said it was a mistake (which happened for other candidates too) and since I was not only one affected, therefore they have no liability.
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budwad
Once you were terminated your contract became toilet paper.
So you are saying, what I have been thinking, that once I left the company, that contract became not applicable? Sadly you and me are the only ones that agree with it. I appreciate your standing up though, budwad.
7.
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cbg
When you showed your contract to an attorney in your unnamed state and asked him or her these questions, what did they say?
She said, there is no choice but arbitration.
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
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budwad
Once you were terminated your contract became toilet paper.
At least some parts of most employment are enforceable after the employee quits or is terminated. For example, in those states where non compete agreements are valid the non compete part of the employment agreement obviously is still enforceable after the employee leaves employment. So on what basis are you claiming that all employment agreements are worthless after the employee leaves?
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
Also one more question. I hear arbitration is final and there is no recourse to it. But do you think, an EEOC charge for this last incident, can be filed? Though problem a) it has been more than 300 days since the offer rescendid event which implies I'm time-barred now, is it? b) but could the fact that arbitration with employer failed a month and half ago (or dismissed to be accurate), so I dont need to worry for this 300 days?
Re: Your Rights, Arbitration vs Civil Court System
Why do you not believe what your attorney tells you?