Alberto

INTRODUCTION

Jennifer Playu Alberto, the respondent, is a former employee of appellant Cambrian Homecare. When she was hired, Alberto signed a written arbitration agreement. Alberto brought wage-and-hour claims against Cambrian. Cambrian petitioned for arbitration. The trial court denied the petition. The trial court found that even if the parties had formed an arbitration agreement, the agreement had unconscionable terms, terms that so permeated the agreement they could not be severed. We affirm. The agreement, read together—as it must be—with other contracts signed as part of Alberto’s hiring, contained unconscionable terms. The trial court had discretion to not sever the unconscionable terms, and to refuse to enforce the agreement.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

A.Cambrian Hires Alberto; Alberto Signs Agreements Cambrian hired Alberto on or about September 17, 2019. That same day, as part of her orientation, a Cambrian representative gave her agreements to sign. Three of those agreements relate to resolution of potential disputes: a “Dispute Resolution Process—Arbitration Agreement,” a

1 The parties do not materially dispute the facts we describe here.

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