Provision in employee handbook mandating arbitration of employment-related disputes is invalid to the extent that the handbook also included a disclaimer which provided that nothing therein created a legally valid contract.

The plaintiff, the former vice president of technical underwriting, filed an action under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination alleging disability discrimination. The defendant successfully moved to dismiss the action based upon the contention that the plaintiff was required to arbitrate the dispute in accordance with the terms of an arbitration provision in the employee handbook. In reversing the dismissal and in reinstating the claim, the Appellate Division held that the arbitration provision was unenforceable since it was part of the employee handbook and the handbook included a disclaimer which provided that nothing in the handbook was intended to create an enforceable contract.

_{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2016}

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