Arbitration agreements not always a way to avoid trial

An Ohio appellate court refused to force an employee to arbitrate her claims of sexual assault, retaliation, and harassment because they weren’t foreseeable consequences of her employment.

Facts

Stefani Crider applied to work for GMRI, Inc., which operates the Capital Grille restaurants, in 2016. At the time of her hire, she received a copy of GMRI’s dispute resolution process document, which “requires that disputes that involve the matters subject to the agreement be submitted to mediation or arbitration pursuant to the arbitration agreement rather than to a judge or jury in court.” While GMRI’s tracking system indicates she received a copy of the document, there was no evidence she signed an acknowledgement form or other related documents or provisions. She was officially hired on February 6, 2016.

Crider claims she was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment by her coworker, Marc Hall. She alleges he made crude and vulgar comments to her and inappropriately touched her. Moreover, she stated she immediately reported the incidents to her managing partner and regional manager, yet Hall was never disciplined.