McManus

I. Introduction

Defendants, CIBC World Markets Corp. (CIBC) and Daniel Miller, appeal from an order denying a petition to compel arbitration of employment and defamation claims brought by plaintiff, Michael J. McManus. On appeal, we conclude that: the order denying the petition to compel arbitration must be reversed; the dispute between the parties must be arbitrated; but that plaintiff may not be required to pay certain costs of the arbitration.

II. Background

CIBC is a national investment bank and broker-dealer of securities. CIBC is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD), and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NASD and the NYSE are self-regulatory organizations that exercise a primary supervisory role over the securities market and its participants, subject to oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Upon being hired by CIBC as a director of its consumer growth division, plaintiff signed two arbitration agreements. The first arbitration agreement was contained in an offer letter agreement dated January 26, 2001, and it provides: “All disputes arising out of your employment or the termination of your employment…

I concur in the result. I do so because the record does not suggest to what extent the employment agreement and the cost provision of the arbitration clause or of the applicable arbitration rules were negotiable. The Supreme Court in Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83, 110-111 [ 99 Cal.Rptr.2d 745 , 6 P.3d 669 ] stated, “we conclude that when an employer imposes mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment, the arbitration agreement or arbitration process cannot generally require the employee to bear any type of expense that the employee would not be required to bear if he or she were free to bring the action in court.” Thus, although arbitration clauses imposed in employment contracts “generally” are subject to certain cost requirements—at least in some types of actions—there may be employment agreements to which Armendariz’s requirements for arbitration do not apply. The Supreme Court’s rejection of “a case-by-case approach to arbitration costs” (Little v. Auto Stiegler, Inc. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1064, 1084 [ 130 Cal.Rptr.2d 892 , 63 P.3d 979 ]) concerned evaluations of cost-sharing provisions, not whether the employment arrangement…

Defendants, CIBC World Markets Corp. ("CIBC") and Daniel Miller, appeal from an order denying a petition to compel arbitration of employment and defamation claims brought by plaintiff, Michael J. McManus. On appeal, we conclude that: the order denying the petition to compel arbitration must be reversed; the dispute between the parties must be arbitrated; but that plaintiff may not be required to pay certain costs of the arbitration.

CIBC is a national investment bank and broker-dealer of securities. CIBC is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ("NASD") and the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). The NASD and the NYSE are self-regulatory organizations that exercise a primary supervisory role over the securities market and its participants, subject to oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Upon being hired by CIBC as a director of its Consumer Growth division, plaintiff signed two arbitration agreements. The first arbitration agreement was contained in an offer letter agreement dated January 26, 2001, and it provides: "All disputes arising out of your employment or the termination of your employment at CIBC World Markets,…