Alissa Moon v. Breathless Inc

868 F.3d 209, 29 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 725, 2017 WL 3526692, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15501
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 17, 2017
Docket16-3356
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 868 F.3d 209 (Alissa Moon v. Breathless Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alissa Moon v. Breathless Inc, 868 F.3d 209, 29 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 725, 2017 WL 3526692, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15501 (3d Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

GREENAWAY, JR., Circuit Judge.

In this appeal, we must determine whether an arbitration clause in a signed contract covers Appellant’s statutory claims. The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey answered this question in the affirmative. We disagree. We shall reverse and remand.

I. Background

In 2013, Alissa Moon (“Moon”) began performing at the Breathless Men’s Club (“Club”) in Rahway, New Jersey. In January of 2015, Moon agreed to rent performance space in the Club and signed an Independent Dancer Rental Agreement (“Contract”). The Contract contains an employment provision and an arbitration clause.

The employment provision provides:

Dancer understands and agrees that he/ she is an independent contractor and not an employee of club. Dancer is renting the performance space for an agreed *212 upon fee previously agreed to by Dancer and Club.

App. 41.

The arbitration clause reads:

In a dispute between Dancer and Club under this Agreement, either may request to resolve the dispute by binding arbitration. THIS MEANS THAT NEITHER PARTY SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE SUCH CLAIM IN COURT OR TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL — DISCOVERY AND APPEAL RIGHTS ARE LIMITED IN ARBITRATION. ARBITRATION MUST BE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. THIS MEANS NEITHER YOU NOR WE MAY JOIN OR ■ CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS IN ARBITRATION, OR LITIGATE IN COURT OR ARBITRATE ANY CLAIMS AS A REPRESENTATIVE OR MEMBER OF A CLASS.

App. 42.

In August of 2015, Moon 2 sued the Club pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq., the New Jersey Wage Payment Law (“NJWPL”), N.J. Stat. Ann. § 34:11-4.1, et seq., and the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (“NJWHL”), N.J. Stat. Ann. § 34:11-56a, et seq, App. 10-37. In September, the Club moved to dismiss the Complaint on the ground that the Contract’s arbitration clause foreclosed Moon from seeking relief in the District Court. In November, ■ the District Court denied the Motion to Dismiss and ordered the parties to engage in limited discovery on the arbitration issue. After discovery, the Club filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of arbitra-' tion and the District Court held a hearing. On July 29, 2016, the District Court granted the Club’s Motion for Summary Judgment concluding that, “[T]here ,[wa]s no genuine dispute as to whether Plaintiffs claims fall within the scope of the arbitration provision.” Moon v. Breathless, Inc., No. CV1506297SDWLDW, 2016 WL 4072331, at *4 (D.N.J. July 29, 2016). On August 10, 2016, Moon filed a timely Notice of Appeal. On appeal, Moon asks us to determine anew whether her claims fall within the’ scope of the Contract’s arbitration provision.

II. Jurisdiction

For her federal claims, Moon invoked the District Court’s jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. For her state claims, Moon drew upon the District Court’s power of supplemental jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1367. We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

III. Standard op Review

On an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, our review is “plenary” and we “apply the same test the district court should have utilized initially.” Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 322 (3d Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). Summary judgment should be granted only when the record shows that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “[A]ll justifiable inferences are to be drawn in [the nonmovant’s] favor,” but the “mere existence of some evidence in support of thé nonmovant is insufficient to deny a motion for summary judgment; enough evidence must exist to enable a jury to reasonably find for the nonmovant on the issue.” Giles, 571 F.3d at 322 (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

IV. Analysis

The parties debate an arbitration clause’s scope. Pursuant to the precedent *213 of the Supreme Court of the United States, state law applies: “When deciding whether the parties agreed to arbitrate a certain matter (including arbitrability), courts generally ... should apply ordinary state-law principles that govern the formation of contracts.” First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 944, 115 S.Ct. 1920, 131 L.Ed.2d 985 (1995).

The parties agree that New Jersey law applies to this controversy. See Appellant’s Br. at 8 (“As a matter of contract interpretation, federal courts apply state contract law to determine the scope of an arbitration clause.”); Appellee’s Br. at 4 (“Federal courts ordinarily apply state contract law in determining the enforceability and scope of an arbitration clause.”).

Thus we must decide two questions under New Jersey law: First, should a court decide whether the parties should submit this issue to arbitration? Second, if the parties have contracted to allow a court to decide arbitrability, have the parties agreed to arbitrate the claims at issue here? We answer the first question in the affirmative and the second question in the negative.

A. A Court Should Decide Arbitrability

Under New Jersey law, “the law presumes that a court, not an arbitrator, decides any issue concerning arbitrability.” Morgan v. Sanford Brown Inst., 225 N.J. 289, 137 A.3d 1168, 1177 (2016). To overr come this presumption, an arbitration clause must contain “‘clea[r] and unmis-takabl[e]’ evidence ‘that the parties agreed to arbitrate arbitrability.’ ” Id. (alterations in original) (quoting First Options, 514 U.S. at 944, 115 S.Ct. 1920). “Silence or ambiguity in an agreement does not overcome the presumption that a court decides arbitrability.” Id. at 1178.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey applied these principles in Morgan v. Sanford Brown Institute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
868 F.3d 209, 29 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 725, 2017 WL 3526692, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alissa-moon-v-breathless-inc-ca3-2017.