Zarate

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2008, Zarate was hired by Veeco, a California based manufacturer of high resolution microscopes. Zarate executed a three-page employee confidentiality and inventions agreement (Veeco Agreement) that contains an arbitration provision requiring him to submit "any claim or controversy arising out of [his] employment or the cessation thereof . . . [to] binding arbitration." The document states that the terms of the agreement apply as a condition of his employment or continued employment with Veeco, "its subsidiaries, affiliates, successors or assigns." Two years later, Bruker, a Massachusetts based microscope manufacturer, purchased 100% of Veeco's stock, and all of Veeco's existing employees, including Zarate, began working for Bruker. During an orientation meeting, a Bruker representative informed Zarate and the other Veeco employees that they would have to sign several employment-related documents, including an employee patent and confidentiality agreement (Bruker Agreement). The three-page Bruker Agreement addresses virtually the same subject matter as the Veeco Agreement, but does not contain an arbitration provision. After Bruker…