10th Circuit sends case back to determine whether employee agreed to arbitrate

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all New Mexico employers) recently overturned a trial court’s ruling that a former employee agreed to arbitrate the employment-related claims she filed against her former employer.

Facts

Dana Fedor was a care coordinator for United Health Care, Inc. (UHC), from 2013 to 2016. She sued UHC for unpaid overtime in 2017, and eight other former employees subsequently joined her lawsuit in a class action.

Claiming they were bound by a UHC policy requiring all employees to resolve their clams through arbitration and not litigation, UHC asked the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit and compel arbitration. After reviewing employment agreements signed by each of the class members when they started employment with UHC, the lower court agreed to compel arbitration and dismissed the lawsuit.

Appeal

Fedor appealed, arguing the lower court had incorrectly ordered her to arbitrate her case before determining whether she had even actually agreed to arbitrate her employment issues with UHC.