Bigler v. Harker School

In Bigler v. Harker School (2013) 213 Cal.App.4th 727, the arbitration provision stated, "I understand and agree that any dispute involving the School, except with respect to my obligation to pay tuition or fees, shall be resolved by arbitration." (Bigler v. Harker School, supra, 213 Cal.App.4th at p. 732.) The court held that under the broad scope of the arbitration provision ("any dispute involving the School"), all of the plaintiff's tort claims were subject to arbitration (id. at pp. 738-741) and the "carve-out" for tuition disputes did not contribute to the arbitration agreement being overly harsh or one-sided as to be substantively unconscionable. (Id. at pp. 737-738.) The Sixth District held that a student's parents' agreement to arbitrate "'any dispute involving the School,'" included the student's claim of battery against a teacher, whose alleged behavior occurred within the course and scope of his role as a teacher in his classroom on a school day concerning an academic performance the student brought to the teacher's attention. (Id. at pp. 732, 741.)