LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A property manager company failed properly present an arbitration clause to a Spanish-speaking gardener it hired who later sued it.
The California Second Appellate District ruled in March against Cycad Management, which has been sued by Jose Merced Nunez for battery, assault and failure to provide a safe workplace. The company cited an arbitration agreement for “all disputes between employee and company relating, in any manner whatsoever, to the employment or termination” of the employee.
But the circumstances surrounding Nunez’s signing of the agreement voided it, the court ruled. Nunez can’t read English, which the employee agreement was written in.
He says he was given “a bunch of documents to sign” while he was working and was told they referred to a “change of company.” His supervisor says there was no forced rush to sign the documents and had told Nunez to take them home. He says they were returned signed 12 days later.
“The agreement is seven pages long and the (American Arbitration Association) rules attached to the motion to compel are 41 single-spaced pages,” the Second District wrote.
“It is untenable for Cycad to argue that Nunez’s family or a coworker could translate 48 pages of legalese into Spanish while Nunez listened to a transition that might not be correct, depending on the proficiency of the translator.”
Nunez’s supervisor also failed to clarify how important the agreement was, the court said.
“Cycad’s failure to provide a Spanish version of the agreement or a fee schedule shows oppression and surprise amounting to procedural unconscionability,” it said.