Barach v. Sinclair Media III, Inc.

392 F. Supp. 3d 645
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedJune 3, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 3:19-0008
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 392 F. Supp. 3d 645 (Barach v. Sinclair Media III, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barach v. Sinclair Media III, Inc., 392 F. Supp. 3d 645 (usdistct 2019).

Opinion

ROBERT C. CHAMBERS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss *649Complaint. ECF No. 5. Defendant argues in its motion that, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3), this action should be dismissed for improper venue because the dispute is covered by a binding arbitration clause in the parties' employment agreement. See Mot. to Dismiss , ECF No. 5. Plaintiff, however, argues that Defendant's motion should be denied because the arbitration clause is "substantively unconscionable," as it allegedly denies Plaintiff some of his statutory rights. See Resp. in Opp. to Def's Mot. to Dismiss , ECF No. 7, at 3.

The parties have fully briefed the issues and the motion is now ripe for adjudication. As explained below, the Court GRANTS , IN PART , and DENIES , IN PART , Defendant's Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss Complaint.

I. Background

For thirteen years, Plaintiff worked for Defendant as a chief meteorologist. See Compl. , ECF No. 1-1, at ¶¶ 8-9. For at least the first decade of Plaintiff's employment, his employment contract was renewed on a two-year or three-year basis. See id. at ¶ 11. However, in July of 2017, Defendant renewed Plaintiff's contract for only one year. See id. at ¶ 13. Plaintiff was approximately sixty years old at the time. Id.

In August of 2017, Plaintiff signed the aforementioned employment agreement with Defendant. See Mem. in Supp. of Def's Mot. to Dismiss , ECF No. 6, at 1; Agreement , ECF No. 5-1. The term of the agreement began on August 1, 2017, and ended July 31, 2018. See Mem. in Supp. of Def's Mot. to Dismiss , at 2. The agreement contained an arbitration clause, which provided:

Employee and Employer agree to submit any dispute or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement including, but not limited to, claims of termination allegedly resulting from discrimination of any type, claims based on common law, contract, or statutorily created or protected rights or any other basis prohibited by law, exclusively to final and binding arbitration before a neutral arbitrator.

See Agreement , at 9.

In January of 2018, Plaintiff's supervisor allegedly told Plaintiff that Defendant's weather presentation needed to be "younger and hipper." See id. at ¶¶ 14-15. Defendant then fired Plaintiff on June 1, 2018, and allegedly replaced him with a thirty-nine-year-old individual. See id. at ¶¶ 16-17.

Plaintiff subsequently filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cabell County, West Virginia, alleging age discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act and in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. See Compl. , at 10-11. On January 3, 2019, Defendant removed the matter to this Court. ECF No. 1.

II. Standard of Review

Arbitration is, "in effect, a specialized kind of forum-selection clause ...." See Bartels v. Saber Healthcare Grp., LLC , 880 F.3d 668, 679 n.2 (4th Cir. 2018) (quoting Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co. , 417 U.S. 506, 519, 94 S.Ct. 2449, 41 L.Ed.2d 270 (1974) ). In the past, the Fourth Circuit "treated motions to dismiss based on a forum selection clause as motions to dismiss for improper venue under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3) ...." BAE Sys. Tech. Sol. & Servs. v. Republic of Korea's Def. Acquisition Program Admin. , 884 F.3d 463, 470 n.4 (4th Cir. 2018). However, the Supreme Court later "clarified that a party may not seek to enforce a forum selection clause by moving to dismiss for *650improper venue; instead, 'the appropriate way to enforce a forum-selection clause pointing to a ... foreign forum is through the doctrine of forum non conveniens. ' "1 Id. (emphasis added) (quoting Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court , 571 U.S. 49, 60, 134 S.Ct. 568, 187 L.Ed.2d 487 (2013) ).

However, rather than using the doctrine of forum non conveniens to enforce arbitration, a party may also move to compel arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"). 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. If a party chooses this latter route to compel arbitration, the FAA requires a district court to stay the action and direct the parties to proceed to arbitration if the court decides that an arbitration clause covers the dispute.2 See id. at §§ 3-4. Of course, because "Congress did not intend for the FAA to force parties who had not agreed to arbitrate into a non-judicial forum," the FAA allows a party to challenge the enforceability of an arbitration clause in a district court by relying on state contract principles. See Sydnor v. Conseco Fin. Serv. Corp. , 252 F.3d 302, 305 (4th Cir. 2001).

When a motion to stay and compel arbitration is challenged, "the applicable legal standard is similar to that applied at summary judgment. Specifically, the pleadings and 'all relevant, admissible evidence submitted by the parties' are considered and 'all reasonable inferences' are drawn in favor of the non-moving party.' "

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392 F. Supp. 3d 645, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barach-v-sinclair-media-iii-inc-usdistct-2019.