In its recent Seriki v. Uniqlo New Jersey, LLC opinion, the Appellate Division faced the following question: "if an employee does not sign an arbitration agreement, can it still be enforced against him"? (Not quite as philosophical as the famous, "if tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" but more relevant to my daily life.) The Appellate Division's answer was a resounding "maybe."

In Seriki, plaintiff worked as a loss-prevention associate for defendant, a retail department store. A few months after he started the job, plaintiff attended a training session at defendant's human resources office. During the meeting, plaintiff and the other attendees received a revised copy of plaintiff's employee handbook. They also received a four-page agreement entitled, "Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate Claims" (the "Agreement"). As the name suggests, the Agreement was a broad agreement to arbitrate all claims between plaintiff and its employees. It also contained the following provision:

Should Employee not sign this Agreement, continuing Employee's employment for a period of [thirty] days after Employee's receipt of this Agreement constitutes mutual acceptance of the terms of the Agreement commencing upon completion of that [thirty]-day period.

Defendant claimed that it explained the Agreement to plaintiff and the other attendees at the meeting. Plaintiff disagreed, claiming that the Agreement was never discussed. Plaintiff did not sign the Agreement, but continued to work for defendant for four months after the meeting. 

After plaintiff was fired, he sued, alleging wrongful discharge. Defendant moved to compel arbitration. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that plaintiff was not bound by the Agreement because he did not sign it. Defendant appealed.

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