Pollo Tropical Gets Employment Spat Sent to Arbitration

Miami-based restaurant chain Pollo Tropical can force a former manager’s employment lawsuit into arbitration based on a mandatory arbitration policy announced in a 2006 employee memorandum.

A federal judge Dec. 17 adopted a magistrate report recommending that the lawsuit be dismissed based on the company’s binding arbitration agreement. The manager continued reporting to work after learning that mandatory arbitration was a condition of employment, Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes said. And she provided at least three newly hired employees with the same policy during her tenure at the company, Otazo-Reyes said.

A June 2006 memorandum informed Pollo Operations Inc. employees ...