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Griffin v. United Health Care Services10/31/2005
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Defendants United HealthCare Services, Inc., and Susan Pomeroy appeal an order denying their petition to compel arbitration of the employment discrimination action brought by plaintiffs Deborah Griffin, RoseMary Rayson, Evelyn Woods, Laquita Madison, Lavette Neal, Mary Perryman, Juanita McVey, Byron LaGrant, Fikirte Teshome Samson, and Vincent Underwood. Defendants contend the trial court erred in concluding there was insufficient evidence that the parties had an agreement to arbitrate employment disputes.
BACKGROUND
Defendants
Defendant United HealthCare Services, Inc., is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, Inc. United Behavioral Health is also a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, Inc., but it is not a name by which UnitedHealth Group, Inc., or any of its affiliates do business.
Defendant Pomeroy became the director of United Behavioral Health's appeals department in San Francisco and plaintiffs' supervisor in July 2003.
Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs were at all relevant times employees of United HealthCare Services, Inc., who were assigned to work at United Behavioral Health. The eight female plaintiffs and one male plaintiff are African American. The other male plaintiff is of mixed African American heritage.
1. Deborah Griffin began working for United Behavioral Health, identified in her offer of employment letter as a subsidiary of United HealthCare, on July 31, 1997. On August 4, 1997, Griffin signed a document entitled "New Hire Orientation Acknowledgement Form." It states: "I acknowledge that I have received a new hire packet and orientation checklist and it has been reviewed with me by a Human Resources Representative. I understand that these documents contain information on United Behavioral Health's general personnel policies with which I am expected to remain familiar. I agree to abide by these policies."
On August 14, 1997, Griffin signed a two-page document entitled "Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook Acknowledgement" (hereafter Code of Conduct Acknowledgement). The preface to the Code of Conduct Acknowledgment states that she had received a copy of the United HealthCare (UHC) Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook and that she understood that "these documents contain important information on UHC's general personnel policies and on my obligations as an employee. I will remain familiar with, and agree to abide by these policies."
The Code of Conduct Acknowledgement is then divided into four sections. Pertinent to this appeal is the section entitled "Employee Handbook," which is divided into two subsections: "At-Will Employment" and "Specific Acknowledgements."
The preface to the specific acknowledgements subsection states: "I acknowledge that I have specifically received and reviewed the policies referenced below at the time I received this Handbook and agree to abide by these policies." The subsection then enumerates four policies and gives a one-paragraph synopsis of each policy and its page location in the handbook. Only one of the four policies is implicated in this appeal. Its synopsis states, in its entirety: "Internal Dispute Resolution/Employment Arbitration Policy (section A5). These policies provide the opportunity for prompt and objective review of employment concerns. I understand that arbitration is the fi
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