Can i be fired for refusing to sign an arbitration agreement at my job?

Question

They require us to sign this yearly

It states that if for whatever reason I will choose legal arbitration instead of trial by jury. I have an issue with that because arbitrators are hired by the corporations, it seems that would be a conflict of interest as far them ruling objectively. How can they be objective if they are being paid by one of the parties, it wuld stand to reason that if they continually ruled against the corporation they would not be hired.

Answer 1

This is tricky, especially if you are an at-will employee. If you had a contract or were in a union or other collective bargaining situation, then presumably this would be clear from your employment agreement.

Obviously, the follwing is predicated upon your state not having statutory or common law history that runs against broader tradition, but essentially, if this was a condition that you were aware of when you took the job, then you are bound to follow it. For example, if your company makes a habit of hiring people, getting them to leave their other jobs, getting them in to the company in a position where their other options are foreclosed and then suddenly slams a whole bunch of unpalatable and previously unmentioned conditions down their throats - that is something a court is likely to reject as being adhesionary and unenforceable.

But, here we've gotten to the rub. They certainly can fire you, whether it is legal or not is a question for a court, which means that if you want to get your job back or bring any other cause of action, you'll need to sue.

Ask yourself: do you have real damages? Do the damages make the suit worthwhile? Will a court even acknowledge that what they are asking you to do is unfair even if it is adhesionary (for public polict y reasons - i.e., judicial ecomomy - courts like arbitration agreements)?

Again, I don't know what state you're in, but take a look at Martindale v. Sandvik, 173 N.J. 76 (2002) or a summary of that and other similar cases below.

All in all, I'd say you probably don't have a great case.

Answer 2

Yes.

They are within their legal rights to fire you if you do not sign an arbitration agreement.

In most states, you can be fired (or denied employment) for ANY reason except one that is SPECIFICALLY prohibited by law (such as age and race).

Answer 3

You can be fired for anything except discrimination. Without seeing the agreement, I would say yes.
If you were coerced into signing to save your job, you could get the agreement nullified, if it ever became an issue.

Answer 4

Yes, it really is legal, unless you have an employment contract that states otherwise. Companies are allowed to change their policies at any time. Since they state up front you will be 'laid off' or terminated if you don't sign, you can bet they will do so if you don't.

Answer 5

Since you said it was required each year, I would say that you can be fired. I assume this was acknowledged when you were hired and you agreed to it.

Answer 6

You answered your own question. OF course you can

Answer 7

Yes, you can.

Answer 8

if u can thats ****** man