Monroy

BACKGROUND

I. The Parties and the Arbitration Agreement1 Donsuemor is an industrial baking company. Monroy worked for Donsuemor in Alameda, California for twenty years, from June 2000 until he was terminated in February 2020. Donsuemor hired Monroy as a non- exempt employee on the production line. In 2004, he became a shift manager on the swing shift. The following year, a worker named Araceli Ramirez presented Monroy with a Spanish-language version of a document entitled “Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate Claims.” Ramirez told Monroy that if he failed to sign it, his employment would be terminated. This was consistent with Monroy’s general understanding throughout his employment with Donsuemor that he was required to sign all documents presented to him or be terminated. No one explained the arbitration agreement to Monroy, who was not aware of what he was signing. Ramirez was not part of the company’s human resources department; she was a worker on the production line who reported to Monroy. There was no opportunity for Monroy to negotiate the terms of the agreement or to inquire about it. At the time Donsuemor presented him with the agreement, Monroy had been working at the company…