A retired judge's old hospital job became the fight - but the objection came too late

A worker who lost her harassment case in arbitration waited too long to challenge the arbitrator - and a New Jersey appeals court agreed.

In 2017, staffing agency Adecco Staffing, USA hired the worker and placed her at University Hospital as an administrative assistant and credentialing specialist. When she joined Adecco, she signed a "Commitment Sheet" acknowledging she was "an employee of Adecco and not an employee of any [c]lient of Adecco."

For HR teams that route workplace disputes into arbitration, a New Jersey appellate decision issued on August 7, 2026 sends a plain message: once arbitration is under way, the window to object to the arbitrator closes quickly.

In February 2020, the worker sued the hospital under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. She alleged she had been sexually harassed and retaliated against by the finance director during her temporary assignment. Because she had an arbitration agreement with Adecco, the dispute moved to the American Arbitration Association (AAA), where a retired judge served as arbitrator.

The arbitrator dismissed the retaliation claim, then - after a three-day hearing - dismissed her remaining claims in a Final Award on April 19, 2023.

Two days later, her lawyer moved to vacate the award and remove the arbitrator. The reason: the arbitrator had once served as corporate counsel for Chilton Memorial Hospital, which the same lawyer had...

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