Sparks v. Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services

In Sparks v. Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 1511, the agreement to arbitrate was found in an employee handbook that contained a provision stating the employer could modify it at any time without notice, as well as a provision stating that the handbook was " 'not intended to create a contract of employment ... .' " (Id. at p. 1516.) In addition, the arbitration provision was buried in the handbook, and was not prominently distinguished from the other provisions or otherwise highlighted. (Id. at p. 1519.) The Sparks court concluded that no contract to arbitrate existed, focusing primarily on the language that the handbook was not intended to create a contract of employment--which suggested that the handbook was "informational rather than contractual"--and on the fact that the acknowledgment signed by the employee "failed to point out or call attention to the arbitration requirement ... ." (Sparks, supra, 207 Cal.App.4th at p. 1520.) The court explained: "To support a conclusion that an employee has relinquished his or her right to assert an employment-related claim in court, there must be more than a boilerplate arbitration clause buried in a lengthy employee handbook given to new employees." (Id. at p. 1522.)