Crump v. MetaSource Acquisitions, LLC

373 F. Supp. 3d 540
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 19, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 18-3313
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 373 F. Supp. 3d 540 (Crump v. MetaSource Acquisitions, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crump v. MetaSource Acquisitions, LLC, 373 F. Supp. 3d 540 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

Opinion

WENDY BEETLESTONE, District Judge

Plaintiff James Crump brings claims of discrimination under federal and state law against Defendants MetaSource Acquisitions, LLC, MetaSource Employee Services, LLC, MetaSource, LLC, and MetaSource, LLC d/b/a MetaSource (collectively, "MetaSource"), and Defendant David Brodecki. MetaSource is Plaintiff's former employer, and Brodecki his former supervisor. In separate motions, Defendants each move to compel arbitration pursuant to an agreement signed by Plaintiff near the outset of his employment. For the reasons set forth below, the motions shall be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 20, 2017, Plaintiff began working for MetaSource. On March 2, 2017, he received several text messages from Brodecki, soliciting Plaintiff to come to Brodecki's home over lunch. Plaintiff agreed, believing that Brodecki wanted to discuss work related matters. However, when Plaintiff arrived, Brodecki began making sexual advances and ultimately performed unwanted oral sex on Plaintiff. Plaintiff forced Brodecki to stop and left.

Afterwards, attempting to grapple with the situation, Plaintiff alleges that he asked another supervisor for a copy of the employee handbook, but the supervisor was not able to provide Plaintiff with a copy. Brodecki continued to contact Plaintiff, asking him to meet outside the office. On March 27, 2017, Plaintiff alleges that he was constructively terminated.

Plaintiff subsequently brought this suit, which Defendants move to dismiss and compel arbitration. In support of their motion, Defendants point to the employee handbook, which Plaintiff signed near the outset of his employment. In addition to setting forth various office policies, the final page of the handbook contains an "Acknowledgement and Agreement,"

*543which Plaintiff signed.1 The page is numbered 39, in continuation from the pagination in the remaining portions of the handbook. At the top of the page, the agreement provides that the "Employee Handbook ... sets forth the terms and conditions of ... employment," and that MetaSource may terminate the employee "at any time for any reason, with or without cause or notice." In the next paragraph, the agreement states that,

[E]xcept for the policy of at-will employment, the Company reserves the right to revise, delete, and add to the provisions of this Employee Handbook. All such revisions, deletions, or additions must be in writing and must be signed by the President of the Company.... [E]xcept for the policy of at-will employment, terms and conditions of employment with the Company may be modified at the sole discretion of the Company with or without cause or notice at any time.

Under the bolded headline "MetaSource Alternative Dispute Resolution Program ," the final paragraph of the page provides that,

[I]n the event employment disputes arise between [the signatory] and the Company, [the signatory] will be bound by the MetaSource Alternative Dispute Resolution Program which provides for final and binding arbitration for disputes relating to termination of employment, unlawful discrimination, and alleged sexual harassment or other unlawful harassment, as defined in the MetaSource Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.

Below this paragraph, there is a space for the employee to sign and date. On Friday, February 24, 2017, Plaintiff signed a copy of this agreement. Plaintiff alleges that he began working on Monday, February 20, 2017-thus, Plaintiff signed the agreement after about a week of employment. At some point, Brodecki signed a copy as well.

The terms of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program are set out in a separate document which provides that the American Arbitration Association would administer any arbitration. There are no signatures on this document.

II. PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND APPLICABLE STANDARDS

A motion to compel arbitration may be evaluated under either the motion to dismiss standard of Rule 12(b)(6) or the summary judgment standard of Rule 56. See Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, L.L.C. , 716 F.3d 764, 776 (3d Cir. 2013). If it is "apparent, based on the face of a complaint, and documents relied upon in the complaint, that certain of a party's claims are subject to an enforceable arbitration clause, a motion to compel arbitration should be considered under a Rule 12(b)(6) standard." Id. "But if the complaint and its supporting documents are unclear regarding the agreement to arbitrate, or if the plaintiff has responded to a motion to compel arbitration with additional facts sufficient to place the agreement to arbitrate in issue, then the parties should be entitled to discovery on the question of arbitrability before a court entertains further briefing on the question." Id. "After limited discovery, the court may entertain a renewed motion to compel arbitration, this time judging the motion under a summary judgment standard." Id.

In this case, Defendants initially filed a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration in October of 2018. Given that it was not clear from the face of the complaint or the documents relied upon in the *544complaint whether the suit was subject to arbitration, in accordance with Guidotti , the parties were given an opportunity to engage in limited discovery on the question of arbitrability. That discovery has now been had and Defendants have renewed their motions to compel arbitration, which shall be evaluated under a summary judgment standard. Id.

Under the applicable summary judgment standard, "a motion to compel arbitration should only be granted if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and, after viewing facts and drawing inferences in favor of the non-moving party, the party moving to compel is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." White v. Sunoco, Inc. , 870 F.3d 257, 262 (3d Cir. 2017).

III. DISCUSSION

"[T]he Federal Arbitration Act (FAA or Act), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. , establishes a national policy favoring arbitration when the parties contract for that mode of dispute resolution." Preston v. Ferrer

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Bluebook (online)
373 F. Supp. 3d 540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crump-v-metasource-acquisitions-llc-paed-2019.