Texas Supreme Court send Peterbilt Employee to Arbitration

The Texas Supreme Court has again, via mandamus, overturned a Court of Appeals affirmation of a trial court denial of a motion to compel arbitration. This most recent opinion stems from the Peterbilt Company’s employment forms. The opinion is unremarkable, but it does specify that an employee’s having signed an “acknowledgment” form (i.e. “I acknowledge that I have received the arbitration policy”) is evidence that the employee had notice of the arbitration policy, even if the employee testifies that he did not in fact ever receive notice of the arbitration policy.

Having gotten notice of the arbitration policy and subsequently continued to come to work every day, the at-will employee must be compelled to arbitrate his discrimination claims, according to Texas law.

In re Dallas Peterbilt, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. 2006) (Cause No. 05-0706).

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