Tito

FACTS

In April 2012, Cambridge Garden hired plaintiffs and respondents Lalita Tito and Manuel Tito to work as residential apartment managers at its 76-unit apartment complex. At the time they were hired, the Titos signed a written employment agreement stating an hourly wage of “$8.00 per hour, plus overtime as required by law, for time spent carrying out assigned duties.” Further, the employment agreement stated that it was a “condition” of the Titos’s employment that they were “required to reside” at the apartment complex. The agreement stated that Cambridge Garden would provide “rent-free lodging” to the Titos in a specified unit within the apartment complex. As relevant to the current appeal, the employment agreement contained the following arbitration provision:

“H. Arbitration “In the event of a dispute between Employer and Employee not relating to possession of the premises, the parties agree to resolve their dispute by binding arbitration under the most current California employment law rules of the American Arbitration Association, which rules can be found at the website www.adr.org. Employee acknowledges and understands that by entering binding arbitration, Employee…