Dive Brief:

• An employer must comply with an arbitration award finding that it constructively discharged a sales employee in her 60s because of her age, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held (Cox v. Dex Media, Inc., No. 21-1156 (10th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022)).
• The employee worked for the company for 14 years until she resigned after being demoted from sales director to sales representative, court documents said. She claimed the company forced her to quit because of her age and disability (an earlier heart attack) and sued under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. She later agreed to arbitrate the claims pursuant to a previous arbitration agreement.
• An arbitrator found in her favor on the ADEA claim, and the company asked a federal district court to vacate the award. It argued that the arbitrator applied the wrong legal standard and didn’t sufficiently explain her findings. The lower court rejected the argument and ordered the company to comply with the award. The 10th Circuit affirmed.

Dive Insight:

Since 1991, when the U.S. Supreme Court held that employment arbitration agreements are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act, arbitration has become many employers’ favored method of resolving employee-related disputes.

The pros are many: Arbitration is designed to be cheaper and faster than going to court. It’s private, so it can keep sensitive details from being made public. Although it allows for some discovery, the...

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