Baumgarten

INTRODUCTION

Defendants EOTFR, LLC d/b/a ICM Partners (ICM), Cindy Ballard, and Chris Silbermann appeal from the trial court’s order denying their motion to compel plaintiff Spencer Baumgarten to arbitrate his claims arising out of his employment at the company.1 ICM contends the court erred in finding the parties did not enter into an agreement containing an arbitration provision. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

1. Baumgarten’s Employment and First Lawsuit In late 2016, Baumgarten signed a four-year contract to work as a partner at ICM in the company’s motion picture department. Baumgarten stopped working at ICM in late summer or fall of 2019, not long after Ballard, the chief of ICM’s human resources department, accused Baumgarten of defecating on the floor of a gender-neutral bathroom in ICM’s New York office. In October 2019, Baumgarten filed a complaint against ICM and Ballard (Baumgarten I). The original complaint in Baumgarten I asserted, among other claims, causes of action for violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.) and defamation. In that complaint, Baumgarten alleged that he negotiated a four-year contract with…