“Promises, Promises in Arbitration of Employment Disputes”

The Missouri Court of Appeals decision in Harris v. Volt Management Corp. is discussed in this Lexology article by the Baker Sterchi law firm. As the article explains, the court “reaffirmed that under Missouri law, an arbitration agreement that vests in one party the unfettered right to modify the arbitration program lacks consideration and will not be enforced.” Summarizing the decision, the article notes that “[l]anguage in the arbitration agreement, which reserved for [the employer] the unfettered right to unilaterally modify the terms of the arbitration program, was not a promise at all. As a result, the circuit court would not compel the employee to arbitrate her claims, instead her lawsuit to proceed.”