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Compulsory Arbitration Agreements In Employment Contracts From Gardner-Denver To Austin: The Legal Uncertainty And Why Employers Should Choose Not To Use Preemployment Arbitration Agreements, John-Paul Motley

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. the Supreme Court enforced a mandatory arbitration clause in a securities registration application and barred the employee from seeking relief in federal court for his Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") claim.' Since the Court's decision compelling arbitration of an employee's statutory claim, labor and employment lawyers have encouraged employers to include binding arbitration clauses covering all potential employer-employee claims in employment applications, handbooks, and collective bargaining agreements ("CBAs"). As one commentator wrote after the Gilmer decision, "[t]he only thing remaining is for employers to begin writing compulsory arbitration clauses into their employment contracts." …