Yufan Zhang v. Unitedhealth Group

367 F. Supp. 3d 910
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedFebruary 13, 2019
DocketCivil No. 18-1454 (MJD/KMM)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 367 F. Supp. 3d 910 (Yufan Zhang v. Unitedhealth Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yufan Zhang v. Unitedhealth Group, 367 F. Supp. 3d 910 (D. Me. 2019).

Opinion

Michael J. Davis, United States District Judge

This matter is before the Court on Defendants' motion to compel arbitration or in the alternative, to dismiss Plaintiff's claims.

I. Background

Plaintiff was an employee of Defendant UnitedHealth Group ("UnitedHealth") from December 2014 through November 14, 2016. (Amended Complaint ¶¶ 3, 11.) In 2016, he was a senior developer and reported to Defendant Sujatha Duraimanickam. (Id. ) Plaintiff alleges that during the time Duraimanickam was his supervisor, she repeatedly made remarks that Plaintiff was less capable of performing the work of developer compared to his younger coworkers and pressured Plaintiff to resign his position. (Id. ) When he failed to resign, Plaintiff alleges that Duraimanickam: 1) restricted his access to important developer resources after younger developers were hired; 2) assigned him complicated and lengthy projects with unrealistic deadlines; 3) claimed Plaintiff lacked the requisite skills for his job, even though he worked in a web development environment that he created and developed the training material for; and 4) exaggerated mistakes to make them look like major issues. (Id. ¶ 3.) It is Plaintiff's claim that Duraimanickam set him up for failure as rationale for terminating his employment. (Id. )

Plaintiff claims all other members of Duraimanickam's team were treated differently *913than Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 4.) He claims they were all provided the resources they needed to complete their work and were given adequate time and flexible deadlines to complete projects. (Id. )

Plaintiff pursued dispute resolution regarding his claims against Duraimanickam within UnitedHealth. Plaintiff claims that human resources failed to adequately investigate his claims and adopted Duraimanickam's biased assessment of Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 5.)

In his May 2017 charge filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights ("MDHR"), which was cross-filed with the EEOC, Plaintiff claimed he was discriminated against based on age. (Robb Decl. Ex. 1.) He claimed he "was treated differently and less favorably than my younger coworkers. My supervisor made unfavorable comments about my age. I was subjected to constant discipline and I was discharged on November 14, 2016." (Id. ) He further claimed, "It is my belief I was discriminated against on the basis of my age/56 in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended." (Id. )

By notice dated February 27, 2018, the EEOC issued a Notice of Right To Sue. (Id. ) Plaintiff's original pro se complaint was filed on May 25, 2018,1 and an Amended Complaint was filed on August 13, 2018. In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff has asserted claims of age discrimination under the ADEA and the MHRA and a claim of defamation.

II. Motion to Compel Arbitration

UnitedHealth asserts that immediately before Plaintiff was hired, he was sent an offer letter and UnitedHealth's Employment Arbitration Policy ("Policy"). (Duraimanickam Decl., Ex. 2.) The offer letter specifically provides "Your agreement to be bound by the terms of the Policy is a condition of your employment. Once you are on board, you will be required to electronically acknowledge in Employee Self Service your understanding of the Policy." (Id. Ex. 1 at p. 5.)

The Policy requires UnitedHealth employees to arbitrate any dispute that "arises from or relates to employment, including termination of employment." (Id. Ex. 2, Section B.) The Policy further provides that it applies to ADEA claims, state discrimination claims and defamation claims. (Id. )

A. Standard

The Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") provides that any agreement to settle a controversy by arbitration "shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds that exist in law or equity for the revocation of any contract." 9 U.S.C. § 2. The FAA further instructs, in relevant part:

If any suit or proceeding be brought in any of the courts of the United States upon any issue referable to arbitration under an agreement in writing for such arbitration, the court in which such suit is pending, upon being satisfied that the issue involved in such suit or proceeding is referable to arbitration under such an agreement, shall on application of one of the parties stay the trial of the action until such arbitration has been had in accordance with the terms of the agreement...

9 U.S.C. § 3.

In considering a motion to compel arbitration, the Court must first determine *914whether there is a valid agreement to arbitrate. Keymer v. Management Recruiters Int'l, Inc., 169 F.3d 501, 504 (8th Cir. 1999). The Court must then determine whether the parties committed to submit the subject matter of the dispute to arbitration. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U.S. 614, 626, 105 S.Ct. 3346, 87 L.Ed.2d 444 (1985) ; Keymer, 169 F.3d at 504. In determining whether the parties have agreed to arbitrate, state law contract principles apply, in accordance with the general policies governing arbitration agreements. First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 944, 115 S.Ct. 1920, 131 L.Ed.2d 985 (1995).

B. Whether Plaintiff's Claims Fall Within Scope of the Policy

The Policy covers "any dispute between an employee and United Health Group and any dispute between an employee ... where the dispute arises from or relates to employment, including termination of employment, with UnitedHealth Group." (Duraimanickam Decl. Ex.

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367 F. Supp. 3d 910, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yufan-zhang-v-unitedhealth-group-med-2019.