Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-employer’s motion to compel arbitration of plaintiff’s lawsuit alleging discrimination, retaliation and defamation, where said claims were controlled by arbitration clause contained in employment agreement. Plaintiff argued that said clause did not apply to him, where: (1) after plaintiff became employed by defendant, defendant announced change in employee dispute resolution clause to require arbitration of all employment-related disputes; (2) defendant announced said change in email sent to all employees that contained opt-out provision; and (3) plaintiff claimed that although he received email in his in-box, he never became aware of said change. However, defendant could properly believe that plaintiff had agreed to arbitrate said claims as outlined in said email, since plaintiff was given: (1) clear offer to arbitrate instant employment-related disputes; (2) reasonable time frame for opting out; (3) repeated instructions that plaintiff’s silence beyond period to opt out and his continued employment reflected agreement to arbitrate said claims; and (4) plaintiff failed to opt out of arbitration procedure within period of time for doing so. Moreover, there was no evidence allowing plaintiff to ignore directives given in company emails.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Arbitration