Warren & Siurek, L.L.P., Defeats Employer’s Attempt to Force Arbitration

On October 24, 2013, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court’s denial of an employer’s motion to compel arbitration in a discrimination and retaliation case filed under Title VII and Section 1981 against Radio One of Texas II, LLC, a subsidiary of Radio One, Inc., one of the nation’s largest radio broadcasting companies, in a federal district court in Houston, Texas. Warren & Siurek, L.L.P. argued, and the courts agreed, that an agreement to arbitrate contained within an employee handbook cannot be treated as a separate, stand alone contract. Consequently, if an employer retains the right to modify its employee handbook, an arbitration provision within that handbook is not an enforceable agreement. Under these circumstances, as in this case, an employee will retain the important right to have their dispute heard by a jury.