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Martinez v. Scott Specialty Gases3/3/2000
Ordered pub. by S.Ct. on 9/27/00
Gabriel and Ann Martinez (individually Gabriel and Ann) brought this action against Gabriel's former employee Scott Specialty Gases, Inc. (Scott), a Pennsylvania corporation with a facility in Fremont, California, Scott subsidiary Scott Semiconductor Gases, and Scott employee Paul Cowles (Cowles). Gabriel claimed unlawful termination in violation of public policy, defamation and misrepresentation concerning other employ-ment (Lab. Code, § 1050), while Ann, his spouse, claimed loss of consortium. All four causes of action flowed from Gabriel being fired from his job at Scott.
Defendants sought summary judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c) and prevailed, the court finding no issue of material fact to show that any of the claims were outside the scope of an arbitration agreement Gabriel had signed in 1997. Plaintiffs appeal the ensu-ing judgment. They argue that Scott had repudiated the agreement and so waived its right to enforce it. We will affirm the judgment.
Background
Plaintiffs' first amended complaint alleges that Gabriel was hired by Scott on September 2, 1997, as a clean gas mixer and later worked as a dopant gas mixer, and then a corrosive liquid filler, until he was fired on May 27, 1998, after a dump cylinder at the Fremont plant exploded. Plaintiffs allege he was fired ostensibly for safety violations leading to the explosion (from overfilling) and for falsifying records, but actually in retaliation for having complained about unsafe and unlawful working conditions at the plant. Defendants, including plant manager Cowles, allegedly defamed him with an untrue story about the discharge and disseminated the untruth to prospective employers. Ann alleges that these same incidents led to her loss of consortium.
Defendants raised among their affirmative defenses that all of these claims were barred because they were subject to an agreement for final, binding and exclusive arbitra-tion which plaintiffs had not only failed to exhaust but also repudiated.
The facts about the arbitration issue were largely undisputed on the motion for summary judgment. Upon first taking the job, Gabriel received and read an employee handbook called "Working with Scott" (publication no. 6086) that governed employer/ employee matters and provided by attachment: "If any dispute arises from your employ-ment with [Scott], you and [Scott] agree that you both will submit it exclusively to final and binding arbitration. Except for workers' compensation and unemployment insurance claims and matters heard by the labor commissioner, `dispute' includes every kind of type of dispute including, without limitation, any allegation of wrongful discharge, discrimination, harassment, or any injury to your physical, mental, or economic interests. This means that a neutral arbitrator, rather than a court or jury, will decide the dispute." Such disputes were to be governed by Code of Civil Procedure section 1280 et seq. and submitted within one year after a dispute or termination of employment, and " ny fail-ure to request the arbitration in this time frame and according to the procedures set forth below shall constitute a waiver of all rights to raise any claims in any forum arising out of any dispute that was subject to arbitration." Procedures were incorporated by reference to an "Employment Arbitration Procedure Manual" that employees could request any time. The material further advised, "Please remember you must sign and return the Acknowledgement of Receipt & Reading Certificate" (acknowledgement).
Gabriel signed such an acknowledgement (and a shorter separate form) on his first day of employment, September 2, 1997. The
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