Sonico v. Charter Commc'ns, LLC

Decision Date27 January 2021
Docket NumberCase No. 19-cv-01842-BAS-LL
PartiesJUSTIN M. SONICO, individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of California

ORDER GRANTING RENEWED MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION AND STAY PROCEEDINGS

Pursuant to the Court's previous Order (ECF No. 32), Defendants have filed a Renewed Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Proceedings ("Renewed Motion") in this action. (ECF No. 36.) Plaintiff opposes, and Defendants reply. (ECF Nos. 37, 38.) The Court finds this motion suitable for determination on the papers submitted and without oral argument. See Civ.LR 7.1(d)(1). For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS the Renewed Motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff filed this putative class action in state court alleging violations of various California wage-and-hour laws, which was then removed to this Court on September 25, 2019. (Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1; Compl., Ex A. to Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1-2.) Defendants Charter Communications, LLC and Charter Communications, Inc. (collectively, "Defendants" or "Charter") initially moved to compel arbitration because Plaintiff agreed to arbitrate the underlying claims when he was hired by Time Warner Cable ("TWC") in 2014, which later merged with Charter. (Mot. to Compel Arbitration ("Mot."), ECF No. 19.) Plaintiff opposed on the basis that he opted out of a subsequent arbitration agreement (the "Solution Channel Agreement" or "SCA") presented to employees after TWC merged with Charter in 2016. (Opp'n to Mot., ECF No. 26.) Plaintiff argued that he entered into the SCA before opting out and it therefore superseded the first arbitration agreement, while Defendants maintained that Plaintiff's opt-out left the first agreement in effect. (See Order Re: Mot. to Compel Arbitration ("Order") at 5, ECF No. 32.)

Because the SCA and opt-out notice specific to Plaintiff were not before the Court, leaving open questions about the agreement's formation, the Court ordered the parties to engage in limited discovery and permitted Defendants to renew their motion within five days of the conclusion of the discovery process. (Id. at 11.) Defendants' Renewed Motion attaches the Solution Channel Program Guidelines ("Guidelines"), the SCA, and Plaintiff's Electronic Opt-Out Acknowledgement. (See Exs. C, F to Decl. of John Fries in supp. of Renewed Mot. ("Fries Decl.").)1 The Court once again summarizes the two agreements below, including the supplemental information provided in the Renewed Motion about the SCA and Plaintiff's opt-out.

A. The JAMS Agreement2

Defendants claim that Plaintiff signed an arbitration agreement as part of his onboarding process with TWC in December 2014 that requires the claims in his class action lawsuit to proceed to arbitration.3 (Mot. at 1.) As part of its hiring practices, TWC required applicants for employment to complete an online "onboarding" process. (Decl. of ChanceCassidy ("Cassidy Decl.") ¶ 8, ECF No. 19-2.)4 This system required applicants to log into TWC's Onboarding System ("OBS") using a unique login identification and a temporary confidential access code available to only the applicant. (Id. ¶ 10.)

Once logged in, the applicant was asked to review and accept 12 "required acknowledgments," the last of which was the JAMS Agreement. (Id. ¶ 11; Onboarding Status Details, Ex. A to Cassidy Decl.) The JAMS Agreement states:

By accepting employment with [TWC], you and [TWC] . . . agree that any and all claims, disputes, and/or controversies between you and TWC arising from or related to your employment with TWC shall be submitted exclusively to and determined exclusively by binding arbitration before a single Judicial Arbitration and Mediations Services, Inc. ("JAMS") arbitrator under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. ("FAA").

(Id. ¶ 11; JAMS Agreement at 4, Ex. B to Cassidy Decl., ECF No. 19-3.5) The JAMS Agreement specifically applies to claims

(3) under any state law governing Charter's obligation to provide meal, rest, or other breaks, (4) alleging that you were paid improperly or paid insufficient wages, overtime, compensation, or that Charter failed to comply with any law relating to the payment of wages, [and] (5) under any other state law related to your employment with Charter[.]

(JAMS Agreement at 4.) It further includes a waiver of all representative, collective, and class actions, allowing employees to pursue claims against Charter only in their individual capacity. (Id. at 4-5.)

The OBS explained why Charter utilized the JAMS agreement, provided a link to the JAMS alternative dispute resolution website where the applicant could review the JAMS arbitration rules, and allowed the applicant to download a PDF copy of the agreement. (Cassidy Decl. ¶ 12; OBS Webpages at 7-8, Ex. C to Cassidy Decl.) Eachapplicant was then prompted to electronically acknowledge and accept the terms of the Agreement. (Cassidy Decl. ¶ 13; OBS Webpages at 10.)6 The OBS automatically recorded the date and time of each applicant's acceptance of the Agreement's terms. (Cassidy Decl. ¶ 16.)

Plaintiff completed the onboarding process and accepted an online offer for employment with TWC on December 24, 2014. (Id. ¶ 9.) Plaintiff thereafter accepted the JAMS Agreement on December 28, 2014, at 6:45 p.m. using his unique login ID and confidential access code. (Id. ¶ 17; Onboarding Status Details for Justin Sonico, Ex. A to Cassidy Decl.)

B. The Solution Channel Agreement

In 2016, Charter acquired TWC. (Mot. at 1; Cassidy Decl. ¶ 2.) In 2017, Charter launched Solution Channel, an exclusive means of resolving pre-employment or employment-related legal disputes through a multi-step claims process that culminates, if necessary, in a final and binding arbitration. (Guidelines at 8-9.) Through this program, a claimant submits a dispute via a web-based portal and, if covered, it is first reviewed internally by Charter, which issues a decision to the claimant by email. (Id. at 10.) If the claimant does not agree with the decision, the claimant can elect to proceed to arbitration. (Id.) The SCA formally binds both parties to arbitration in the event this internal review procedure does not resolve the claim.

Links to both the SCA and the Guidelines were accessible to employees on a Charter intranet site called Panorama. (Fries Decl. ¶ 9; Panorama webpage at 2, Ex. B to Fries Decl.)

1. Agreement to Arbitrate

Like the JAMS Agreement, the SCA requires claims arising from employment disputes with Charter to be submitted to arbitration and bars claims from being brought ina representative, collective, or class action. (SCA §§ B.1, D.) The SCA states that both the employee and Charter "mutually agree" to these terms as a condition of employment. (Id. § A.) The SCA also states that it constitutes "the complete agreement of the parties on the subject of resolution of the covered disputes, and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous oral or written understanding on this subject[.]" (Id. § P.)

Finally, the SCA establishes that it is effective "as of the date of [the employee's] consent to participate in Solution Channel." (Id. § V.) The SCA has no place for an employee to sign or otherwise indicate mutual assent to its terms.

2. Solution Channel Guidelines

The Guidelines explain the Solution Channel dispute resolution process, including arbitration. They contain an enumerated list of "General Rules" stating that "participation in Solution Channel is a condition of consideration for employment with Charter, and a condition of working at Charter." (Id. at 8, 13.) They also specifically provide:

Upon implementation of Solution Channel, current employees will be provided a 30-day opt-out period. Those employees will be covered by Solution Channel unless they opt out. Those employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement or other employment agreement are excluded from Solution Channel unless expressly allowed under those agreements (although nothing in this document shall limit the applicability of any arbitration or other dispute resolution provision contained in those agreements).

(Id. at 8, 13.) Another section of the Guidelines reiterates that "[c]urrent employees at the effective date of Solution Channel will be enrolled in the Program, unless the employee opts out." (Id. at 13.)

3. Plaintiff's Opt-Out

Charter's intranet webpage also included a link to a webpage allowing employees to elect to opt out of Solution Channel. (See Fries Decl. ¶¶ 11-13; Ex. D to Fries Decl.) The Electronic Opt-Out Acknowledgement included the following statement:

After having carefully considered its components, I am opting out of Solution Channel. By opting out, I understand and agree that I am not required to participate in Solution Channel. I also understand that if I am already subject to another arbitration agreement, I will remain subject to that agreement. I am only opting out of Solution Channel by completing this form.
I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT IF I DO NOT OPT OUT, I AM SPECIFICALLY CONSENTING TO PARTICIPATION IN SOLUTION CHANNEL.

(Ex. D to Fries Decl.) Employees could then check a box next to "I want to opt out of Solution Channel," enter their name, and click "Save" to record their opt-out. (Fries Decl. ¶ 14.)

In their Renewed Motion, Defendants now provide documentary evidence establishing Plaintiff's receipt of the SCA and his subsequent decision to opt out. On October 6, 2017, Charter's Executive Vice President Paul Marchand announced via email the implementation of the Solution Channel program to "all non-union employees below the level of Executive Vice President, who were active, or who were not on a leave of absence, on that date[.]" (Fries Decl. ¶ 5; SCA email, Ex. A to Fries Decl.) The email noted: "Unless you opt out of participating in Solution Channel within the next 30 days, you will be enrolled. Instructions for opting out of Solution...

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