California Top Court Issues Test for Arbitration Clause Fairness

A California woman came a step closer to litigating her discrimination and wrongful discharge claims against a former employer after the state’s top court said it was unclear whether the employer could insist on arbitrating the dispute.

The arbitration agreement Evangelina Yanez Fuentes signed before being hired by Empire Nissan Inc. shouldn’t have been presumed to be fair, but instead ought to have been closely examined for harshness or one-sidedness, especially in light of its general illegibility, the California Supreme Court said Monday. The court sent the case back to the trial court to determine if the facts supported Fuentes’s ...