Once again, but not surprisingly, an arbitration agreement conveyed by an employer and confirmed by an employee via email has been upheld by the New Jersey courts.

In a recent decision, Jasicki v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the motion court’s dismissal of an employee’s claims of sexual harassment, compelling arbitration.  Holding the employee agreed to the company’s mandatory arbitration program communicated via a company-wide email by (1) opening the email, (2) failing to opt-out of the arbitration program, and (3) continuing her employment, the Appellate Division validated email arbitration agreements in the employment context under these circumstances, despite the employee’s assertion she never actually read the email.  In doing so, the Appellate Division reinforced our courts’ approval of these less traditional and more controversial vehicles for securing employee assent to arbitration agreements.  In short, quoting its decision in Jaworski v. Ernst & Young, the Appellate Division wrote: “An email, properly couched, can be an appropriate medium for forming an arbitration agreement.”

Continue Reading Appellate Division Decision Confirms Continued Employment May Constitute Assent to an Employer’s Emailed Arbitration Agreement

For many employees, bonuses and commissions represent a significant portion of the compensation they expect to receive in exchange for their hard work and efforts in growing and cultivating their employers’ businesses and, in many instances, generating revenue. Typically, incentive pay is tied to performance—whether individual or company-wide—and is earned as of a certain date (which may be at the end of each year, each quarter, each month, or any other regular, set intervals), upon successful completion of certain tasks (such as the closing of a sale), or upon achieving certain measurable performance metrics or benchmarks. Often times commissions are paid on a monthly basis and bonuses are paid annually, either at the end of the year or beginning of the following year. But it does not have to be that way, and employers generally enjoy broad discretion in how they wish to construct and implement their incentive compensation plans and policies—and whether to even have one at all.

Continue Reading Employees’ Entitlement to Bonuses and Commissions Following Termination of Employment