## Facts

- Freeman Harris worked for Yellow Transportation Co. as a non-union, at-will employee.
- During his employment, Harris received Yellow Transportation’s policy guide describing the company’s dispute-resolution process.
- The dispute-resolution materials stated the program applied to all non-union employees and that acceptance of the program’s terms was a condition of employment.
- The program provided for mandatory arbitration and allowed Yellow Transportation to compel arbitration of covered disputes.
- Harris refused to sign the dispute-resolution (arbitration) agreement.
- After receiving the policy materials and the request to sign, Harris continued working for Yellow Transportation.
- Harris later sued Yellow Transportation, alleging race discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
- Yellow Transportation moved to compel arbitration under its dispute-resolution program.

## Issues

1. Whether an at-will employee who refuses to sign an arbitration agreement is still bound by the employer’s arbitration program when the employee continues working after receiving notice that arbitration is a condition of employment.
2. Whether the employee’s discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims are subject to the employer’s dispute-resolution process requiring arbitration.

## Decision

- The court granted Yellow Transportation’s motion to compel arbitration.
- The court held that an at-will employee who has notice that arbitration is a condition of employment accepts the arbitration requirement by continuing to work, even if the employee refuses to sign the agreement.
- The court determined Harris’s employment-related claims were covered by the dispute-resolution program and must proceed in arbitration rather than in court.

## Legal Principles

- An employer may require arbitration as a condition of continued at-will employment.
- When an at-will employee receives clear notice of a mandatory arbitration policy and continues working, the employee’s conduct shows acceptance of the policy’s terms.
- A refusal to sign a separate arbitration document does not, by itself, prevent contract formation where the employee continues employment after notice of the condition.
- When a valid arbitration agreement applies to the asserted employment claims, a court should compel arbitration and decline to adjudicate those claims in litigation.

## Conclusion

Harris v. Yellow Transportation Co. holds that a non-union, at-will employee who receives notice that an employer’s dispute-resolution program requires arbitration as a condition of employment accepts that requirement by continuing to work, and the employee’s later discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims must be resolved in arbitration.


Harris v. Yellow Transportation Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112143 (2008)