{"id":190,"date":"2017-03-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/njelb\/2017\/03\/29\/jury-waiver-arbitration-agreements-require-specificity\/"},"modified":"2022-12-27T10:24:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T10:24:56","slug":"jury-waiver-arbitration-agreements-require-specificity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/njelb\/discrimination\/jury-waiver-arbitration-agreements-require-specificity\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury Waiver And Arbitration Agreements Require Specificity"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent New Jersey Appellate Division decision once again highlights the specificity required to enforce jury waivers or agreements to arbitrate employment disputes.\u00a0 In Noren v. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc.<\/u><\/em>, ___ N.J. Super. (App. Div. 2017), Plaintiff signed an employment agreement containing a jury-waiver provision stating that the parties \u201cirrevocably waive any right to trial by jury in any suit, action or proceeding under, in connection with or to enforce this Agreement.\u201d\u00a0 Plaintiff was subsequently terminated and filed suit against the Defendant employer for breach of contract and violation of New Jersey\u2019s whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (\u201cCEPA\u201d).\u00a0 Plaintiff\u2019s request for a jury trial was denied and the trial judge dismissed his claims and entered an award for Defendant of over $2 million in fees and costs.<\/p>\n

On appeal, Plaintiff challenged the jury waiver provision.\u00a0 The Appellate Division\u2019s decision provides an excellent summary of the analysis applied to determine whether jury waiver or arbitration provisions will be enforced.\u00a0 The right to a jury trial is not only a Constitutional guarantee, but in the case of Plaintiff\u2019s CEPA claim, is specifically provided by statute.\u00a0 The waiver of these rights \u201cmust be clearly and unmistakably established.\u201d\u00a0 While no magic language is required to establish a waiver, the language must at a minimum \u201cclearly explain (1) what right is being surrendered and (2) the nature of the claims covered by this waiver.\u201d\u00a0 The Court referenced prior court decisions to illustrate this point.<\/p>\n

In one case, an arbitration provision contained in an employment agreement stated only that \u201cany controversy or claim\u201d arising from the agreement was subject to arbitration.\u00a0 Because no reference was made to statutory claims such as CEPA or discrimination claims covered by New Jersey\u2019s Law Against Discrimination, the provision at issue was deemed unenforceable.\u00a0 As the Court held \u201ca waiver-of-rights provision should at least provide that the employee agrees to arbitrate all statutory claims arising out of the employment relationship or its termination.\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast, an arbitration provision addressed by another court specifically identified claims based on statutes, ordinances and anti-discrimination statutes.\u00a0 The relevant clause addressed in a third decision actually listed by name the anti-discrimination statutes being waived.\u00a0 In both decisions, the Court concluded that the language at issue established a clear intent to waive statutory remedies.<\/p>\n

Based upon these principles, the Noren<\/u><\/em> Court found that the waiver provision was not sufficient to establish a waiver of the right to a jury trial on Plaintiff\u2019s CEPA claim.\u00a0 The waiver language applied to \u201cany suit, action or proceeding under, in connection with or to enforce this Agreement.\u201d\u00a0 This provision made no reference to CEPA or other statutory claims and it did not define the scope of claims being waived as including all claims relating to Plaintiff\u2019s employment.\u00a0 By limiting the waiver to claims under \u201cthis Agreement,\u201d the language failed to clearly explain that statutory claims like CEPA were also being waived.\u00a0\u00a0 The case was therefore reversed and remanded for a jury trial on Plaintiff\u2019s CEPA claims. (Note, however, that the dismissal of Plaintiff\u2019s breach of contract claim was upheld, as was the $2 million award of fees and costs).<\/p>\n

If your organization utilizes waiver provisions or arbitration agreements, now is a good time to review them, keeping in mind the principles set forth above.<\/p>\n

Should you have any questions on this issue, please contact me at ptcollins@nmmlaw.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent New Jersey Appellate Division decision once again highlights the specificity required to enforce jury waivers or agreements to arbitrate employment disputes.\u00a0 In Noren v. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. (App. Div. 2017), Plaintiff signed an employment agreement containing a jury-waiver provision stating that the parties \u201cirrevocably waive any right to trial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,58],"tags":[59,60,61,62,63],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJury Waiver And Arbitration Agreements Require Specificity - Norris in the Workplace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/njelb\/discrimination\/jury-waiver-arbitration-agreements-require-specificity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jury Waiver And Arbitration Agreements Require Specificity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent New Jersey Appellate Division decision once again highlights the specificity required to enforce jury waivers or agreements to arbitrate employment disputes.\u00a0 In Noren v. 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