Leland Edwards signed a Dispute Resolution Agreement before going to work in a Virgin Islands factory. The DRA entitled his employer to bring claims against him in court but required him to arbitrate any claims for personal injury. The district court held the one-way arbitration clause unconscionable under Virgin Islands law. The Third Circuit reversed:
Where, as here, an arbitration provision requires only one side to submit its claims (personal injury or otherwise) to arbitration, but does not alter or limit the rights and remedies available to that party in the arbitral forum, it cannot be said that the parties’ agreement is substantively unconsionable under the rationale of Gilmer[ v. Inerstate/Johnson Lane Corp., 500 U.S. 20 (1991)].
Edwards v. HOVENSA, LLC, No. 06-4601 (3d Cir. Aug. 2, 2007).
Harsh.
Barry Barnett