An employee working as an externship coordinator at a for-profit school is not required to arbitrate her FMLA claims despite signing an acknowledgment form for a handbook containing a dispute resolution policy requiring arbitration.

The employee qualified for and requested FMLA leave to care for a newborn child. Shortly thereafter, a coworker with less experience was promoted and the employee was transferred to a part-time position with reduced benefits. The employee filed suit and the company filed a motion to compel arbitration based on a "Dispute Resolution" policy listed in a fifty-five page handbook containing prominent contract disclaimer language. In concluding that the "Dispute Resolution" policy was unenforceable as an arbitration agreement, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts reasoned that the disclaimer language in the handbook clearly established that it was not a contract and the "Dispute Resolution" policy was not distinct from the handbook in which it was contained. Read more.